At his criminal sentencing hearing last year, the defendant expressed contempt displeasure at the sentence he received and, like that, exclaimed in court: "F*** y’all."  This didn't go over too well with the trial judge, who immediately handed down a 1-year sentence for contempt of court, on top of the other sentences he had imposed for the defendant's underlying criminal offenses.  The defendant appealed the contempt sentence, claiming he did not obstruct justice, since he uttered the colorful turn of phrase after the hearing had already concluded. 

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that verbal fireworks alone, even absent the "material" disruption of ongoing court proceedings, is enough to qualify for contempt.  “An outburst of foul language directed at the court is intolerable misbehavior,” Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson wrote for the majority.  She later quoted a First Circuit opinion, which had this to say about the importance of decorum:

“Courtrooms, especially in criminal cases, are theaters of extreme emotions — stoked by . . . the tensions of striving lawyers, hostile cross examination, and the fearsome stakes. . . .By its tendency to undermine order, a party’s deliberate cursing of a judge in open court can . . .readily be viewed as obstructive.”

But the defendant won one concession: the D.C. Circuit reduced his contempt sentence to 6 months, on the grounds that a court can not not impose a sentence longer than that without a jury trial. 

For a complete read, click onto:  [WSJ Law.com, 12/29]