Contempt by judge?

[Kevinswife]

Hello Soc.

We went to court with husbands ex.  The judge ordered her to do certain things that were not done.  I spoke with the court clerk and let her know what had happened and she spoke to the judge.  We were going to file contempt against the ex but the court clerk said not to worry about it the judge would take care of it.

Yesterday the ex decided she was going to do as the judge ordered when it was suppose to be done a week ago.  This is really out of character for the ex.  As she stated she was appealing and would not obey the court orders.  We know she had a change of mind for some reason.  My questions are..


1.  Do or can judges file contempt without a party to the case?  Without us in this case.

2.  Is there something other than contempt that the judge may have done?

3.  Would we have been notified of any action against the ex that the judge may have taken?

Thank you in advance.  You have been a tremendous help to a lot of people.

[socrateaser]

>1.  Do or can judges file contempt without a party to the
>case?  Without us in this case.

Generally a judge cannot find a party in contempt unless that contempt occurs in the presense of the court. Further, a judge is not supposed to have communications unless all parties are present, unless there is a showing of irreparable harm, and a hearing on the matter is set within 30 days.

>
>2.  Is there something other than contempt that the judge may
>have done?

I can only guess that maybe the judge had his/her clerk call and "inquire" as to whether the order had been satisfied.

>
>3.  Would we have been notified of any action against the ex
>that the judge may have taken?

Your judge is a cowboy/cowgirl. The actions are outside the scope of judicial authority -- but, in small jurisdictions, judges sometimes do such things, especially if they believe that the electorate would approve, as that's the only way that the judge could lose his/her job.