The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has some news for thin-skinned trial judges: being called a cocksucker from the gallery is crude and impolite… and not, as it turns out, a crime.
Back in June 2022, Basile Outlaw was sitting in Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Roxanne E. Covington’s courtroom to support a friend facing criminal charges. When Judge Covington denied the friend’s motion to suppress, Outlaw stood up and said that “the judge is a cocksucker,” loudly enough for her to hear it. Judge Covington asked, “What did you say?” Outlaw had a sudden flash of good judgment, said, “Never mind. I’m leaving,” and walked out.
A deputy sheriff and a court employee searched the building for him. He came back on his own to apologize, saying he regretted the outburst, and was taken into custody for direct criminal contempt. Outlaw was sentenced to, and served, 30 days in jail for the offense.
On appeal, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office agreed with Outlaw that there wasn’t enough evidence to support the conviction, but the Superior Court upheld it anyway. That left the Supreme Court without anyone to argue for the conviction, so it invited the state Attorney General’s office to do it, which it accepted.
In an opinion by Justice David Wecht, the Supreme Court unanimously reversed the conviction. To prove direct criminal contempt in Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth has to show misconduct in the court’s presence, committed with intent to obstruct the proceedings, that actually obstructs the administration of justice. And obstruction means a significant disruption. In the Court’s words, “[i]nappropriate and even ill-mannered conduct which does not obstruct or delay the trial falls short.” Or, more briefly:
Mere affront to the trial judge is not enough.
Here the hearing paused for the length of one “What did you say?” The Court called it the “exact sort of ‘transient delay’ or ‘momentary break in the proceedings’” it had already held doesn’t count in Williams v. Williams, a 1998 case in which a litigant called a judge a “fucking asshole.” The Court did not want to start grading insults. It said it “will not endeavor to rank the various obscenities discussed here in order of offensiveness,” but saw no reason “fucking asshole” would obstruct justice any more or less than “cocksucker.”
Courts in other places haven’t always been so understanding, though the results depend a lot on where you’re swearing. In Michigan, an appeals court upheld a criminal contempt finding against an attorney for calling the judge a “fucking cunt” at the end of a Zoom hearing, even though he insisted he didn’t think anyone could hear him. In 2021, a St. Louis County judge ordered a medical malpractice attorney to spend a week in jail after he told the court “fuck you.” Meanwhile, a man who told a judge to get fucked in the middle of a hearing stayed out of jail after a contrite apology. Each jurisdiction has its own rules, but there certainly seems to be a higher standard for lawyers. They’re officers of the court, and judges are a lot less willing to write it off as a bad day when the person cursing at them has a bar card.
The court went on, noting, trial judges “are supposed to be persons of fortitude who are able to thrive in a hardy environment,” and they “must be on guard against confusing offenses to their sensibilities with obstruction of the administration of justice.”
Translation: grow a thicker skin, Your Honor.
“Being offended shouldn’t justify a criminal conviction for the rest of your life,” Aaron Marcus of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, who represented Outlaw, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. And that was the point of the appeal here, because while the conviction is gone, the 30 days he spent in jail are not.
Earlier: Turns Out You Shouldn’t Call The Judge A ‘Fcking Cnt’
Lawyer Heading To Jail After Telling Judge ‘F*ck You’
Man Tells Judge To Get F*cked In Court, Manages To Avoid Jail
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1
The post Calling A Judge A ‘C*cksucker’ Is Rude, But It Isn’t Criminal Contempt appeared first on Above the Law.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has some news for thin-skinned trial judges: being called a cocksucker from the gallery is crude and impolite… and not, as it turns out, a crime.
Back in June 2022, Basile Outlaw was sitting in Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Roxanne E. Covington’s courtroom to support a friend facing criminal charges. When Judge Covington denied the friend’s motion to suppress, Outlaw stood up and said that “the judge is a cocksucker,” loudly enough for her to hear it. Judge Covington asked, “What did you say?” Outlaw had a sudden flash of good judgment, said, “Never mind. I’m leaving,” and walked out.
A deputy sheriff and a court employee searched the building for him. He came back on his own to apologize, saying he regretted the outburst, and was taken into custody for direct criminal contempt. Outlaw was sentenced to, and served, 30 days in jail for the offense.
On appeal, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office agreed with Outlaw that there wasn’t enough evidence to support the conviction, but the Superior Court upheld it anyway. That left the Supreme Court without anyone to argue for the conviction, so it invited the state Attorney General’s office to do it, which it accepted.
In an opinion by Justice David Wecht, the Supreme Court unanimously reversed the conviction. To prove direct criminal contempt in Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth has to show misconduct in the court’s presence, committed with intent to obstruct the proceedings, that actually obstructs the administration of justice. And obstruction means a significant disruption. In the Court’s words, “[i]nappropriate and even ill-mannered conduct which does not obstruct or delay the trial falls short.” Or, more briefly:
Mere affront to the trial judge is not enough.
Here the hearing paused for the length of one “What did you say?” The Court called it the “exact sort of ‘transient delay’ or ‘momentary break in the proceedings’” it had already held doesn’t count in Williams v. Williams, a 1998 case in which a litigant called a judge a “fucking asshole.” The Court did not want to start grading insults. It said it “will not endeavor to rank the various obscenities discussed here in order of offensiveness,” but saw no reason “fucking asshole” would obstruct justice any more or less than “cocksucker.”
Courts in other places haven’t always been so understanding, though the results depend a lot on where you’re swearing. In Michigan, an appeals court upheld a criminal contempt finding against an attorney for calling the judge a “fucking cunt” at the end of a Zoom hearing, even though he insisted he didn’t think anyone could hear him. In 2021, a St. Louis County judge ordered a medical malpractice attorney to spend a week in jail after he told the court “fuck you.” Meanwhile, a man who told a judge to get fucked in the middle of a hearing stayed out of jail after a contrite apology. Each jurisdiction has its own rules, but there certainly seems to be a higher standard for lawyers. They’re officers of the court, and judges are a lot less willing to write it off as a bad day when the person cursing at them has a bar card.
The court went on, noting, trial judges “are supposed to be persons of fortitude who are able to thrive in a hardy environment,” and they “must be on guard against confusing offenses to their sensibilities with obstruction of the administration of justice.”
Translation: grow a thicker skin, Your Honor.
“Being offended shouldn’t justify a criminal conviction for the rest of your life,” Aaron Marcus of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, who represented Outlaw, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. And that was the point of the appeal here, because while the conviction is gone, the 30 days he spent in jail are not.
Earlier: Turns Out You Shouldn’t Call The Judge A ‘Fcking Cnt’
Lawyer Heading To Jail After Telling Judge ‘F*ck You’
Man Tells Judge To Get F*cked In Court, Manages To Avoid Jail
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1
