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55 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1041 (1980)
The Final Judgment Rule and Party Appeals of Civil Contempt Orders: Time for a Change

handle is hein.journals/nylr55 and id is 1051 raw text is: NEW YORK UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW VOLUME 55 DECEMBER 1980 NUMBE 6 THE FINAL JUDGMENT RULE AND PARTY APPEALS OF CIVIL CONTEMPT ORDERS: TIME FOR A CHANGE THOMAS J. ANDRI, JR.* Professor Andri criticizes a well-establshd but anomalous rule concerning the appealability of contempt orders. Whereas a nonparty may appeal a contempt order immediately, and both parties and nonparties may appeal criminal contempt orders, parties to a suit ordinarily must wait until a final decision is rendered in a case before appealing a coercive civil contempt order. After reviewing the almost accidental birth of this rule, Professor Andrd argues that the policies in facor of predicating appeals on final decisions are not fitrtherd by the rule limiting review of contempt orders. Finally, Professor Andre examines the hardships imposed by delayed review of contempt orders, hardships that provide further grounds for allowing immediate appeals. INTRODUCTION Contempt of court has been called a legal thumbscrew.' No- where in the law of contempt is this characterization more apparent than in the requirements for obtaining appellate review of civil con- tempt orders. Because the United States courts of appeals may exercise jurisdiction only over appeals from final decisions,'2 they usually are unable to review contempt sanctions that order either the indefinite incarceration of parties or the payment of substantial monetary penal- ties upon their continued contumacy. Witnesses and other nonparties, however, may seek immediate review. In contrast, relatively nominal fines or lenient fixed jail sentences are appealable immediately by both parties and nonparties if the * Professor of Law, Tulane University. B.A., 1963, Cornell University; LL.B., 1966 Tulane University; LL.M., 1967, Columbia University. I J. Oswald, Contempt of Court 5 (3d ed. 1911). 2 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1976) provides: -The courts of appeals shall have jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of the district courts of the United States .... - A similar provision has existed since the Judiciary Act of 1789, ch. 20, § 21, 1 Stat. 73. 1041 Imaged with the Permission of N.Y.U. Law Review

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