Ian is Free and thoughts on courts
Ian is free after a video conference with the judge on Monday. On Free Talk Live Monday night Ian said he apologized to the judge and that he has to remove the couch and pay the fine. He will have to make sure he stays out of trouble until the 90 days of his sentence is up, this was apparently a condition of his release.
After watching the video tape again I agree that the whole court room was orchestrated to send a message to the activist. I don’t think that it worked. Also I noted that a gentleman from a local cable channel called into Free Talk Live and stated that the court proceedings were supposed to have broadcast quality audio and video, something everyone there said was not the case.
Now, I looked up the definition of contempt of court. Here is what I found:
Courts have inherent power to control courtroom behavior and to enforce court orders. Contempt of court occurs when someone disobeys a court order, shows disrespect for the judge, or disrupts judicial proceedings. There are two types of contempt–civil contempt and criminal contempt. In addition, contempt can be either direct (occurs in the judge’s presence and disrupts court’ proceedings) or indirect (occurs outside the immediate presence of the judge).
By this definition are not we all in contempt of court. Do you ever want to be there for anything? Heck traffic court is something we could all do without. We are told that standing when the judge enters the courtroom is a show of respect. Respect for what? I was taught that respect is earned, not given due position. If I do not know that judge personally then I nothing to base an opinion on do I. Do you have respect for some one else because you were told to, or do you form your own opinion on the person? Standing for the judge seems to me to be the same as being told you will respect me because of my authority.
