Lawyer Released from Jail After Serving 14 Years for Contempt

MSNBC reports that a Pennsylvania lawyer, who was held in contempt of court for failing to comply with a court's order issued in a bitter divorce case, was just released from jail after serving 14 years. The 14 years the lawyer served in jail is the longest imprisonment on a civil contempt charge in United States history.

H. Beatty Chadwick was held in contempt and jailed in April of 1995 for failing to turn over $2.5 million he was accused of hiding from his wife during a bitter divorce case. Chadwick maintained that he had lost it in some bad investments.

On Friday, Delaware County Judge Joseph Cronin finally released Chadwick from his civil contempt jail commitment after determining that his incarceration would not result in him turning over the money.
Judge Cronin stated that Chadwick's continued incarceration would only be legal at this point if it would likely make him comply with the court's order and turn over the money. Finding that possibility highly unlikely after 14 years, Judge Cronin ordered Chadwick's release.

Judge Cronin further stated that he did not disagree with the court's order to hold Chadwick in contempt and send him to jail. Judge Cronin stated that Chadwick "had the ability to comply with the court order but that he had willfully refused to do so."

As for Chadwick, he believes judges have too much discretion and power when it comes to civil contempt commitments, telling the Associated Press that "if I had been convicted of murder in the third degree in Pennsylvania, I would have been out in half the time I was in jail."

Chadwick further argues that people should have the right to a jury in civil contempt cases like his. According to Chadwick, who made numerous attempts to secure his release during his 14 years in jail, people like him should have the right to have a jury to decide if they are able to comply with a court's order instead of that issue being decided entirely at the discretion of the court.

So what is Chadwick going to do now after serving 14 years for civil comtempt? Well, Chadwick is now 73 and is moving in with his son for the time being. He says he plans to look for a job (or an island in the Caribbean where he can enjoy his $2.5 million dollars which, in 2006, experts estimated was worth $8 million before the economic downturn.

Written by Gabriel Dorman
gabedorman@gmail.com
www.criminaldefenseduilawyer.com/blog/