Why does everyone still have cypherpunks@toad.com in their Cc: list, or how can I get it to work so I don't have to edit the headers (back to the procmail manual...) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 13:17:04 -0400 (EDT) From: tzeruch@ceddec.com To: Tim May <tcmay@got.net> Cc: Jim Choate <ravage@EINSTEIN.ssz.com>, cypherpunks@toad.com Subject: Re: Compelling a key (fwd) On Wed, 21 May 1997, Tim May wrote:
At 4:45 PM -0800 5/21/97, Jim Choate wrote:
In practice, I think the Washington, D.C. doctor, Elizabeth X, the woman who refused to say where her children were, was held for about 2 years, and that this was the all-time record for a contempt case. She was ultimately released when the court concluded she had no intention of cooperating.
Exactly! It is ENTIRELY up to the individual judge who issued the contempt citation. If they are pissed enough 2 years will be nothing. As far as I have been able to find there are NO statutes, other than that of a statute of limitation for a particular type of crime, that limit how long you can sit in jail on contempt.
One correction. She was released by a special law passed by the house of representatives after a media blitz about her case. The law only let her go and did not generally limit the period of time people could be held in contempt. It was not the judge, but a legislature trying to quell some outcry without doing any real reform