STEVE M. PASIN, APPELLANT,
v.
ROSEMARY A. PASIN, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court affirmed the civil contempt judgment, finding substantial evidence of willful refusal to pay support.
The husband was found in civil contempt for willfully refusing to pay court-ordered temporary support despite having the means.…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Willful Refusal To Pay cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
The record contains substantial, competent evidence to support the trial court’s finding that the husband, possessed of adequate means, wilfully refused to pay the wife’s court-ordered temporary support.. Thus, we affirm the judgment of civil contempt. See Bowen v. Bowen, 471 So. 2d 1274 (Fla.1985).
Although not challenged by either party, we take this opportunity to comment on a provision in the judgment which appears to have been inserted as a matter of routine practice. It states, “If the [husband] has failed to purge himself of the contempt before said specified date and time, the [husband] shall be confined to the Broward County Jail for a period of five (5) days." (Emphasis supplied.) In our view, this provision is at odds with the objective of civil contempt.
“[T]he purpose of a civil contempt proceeding is to obtain compliance on the part of a person subject to an order of the court.” Bowen v. Bowen, supra at 1277. “The sentence is usually indefinite and not for a fixed term. Consequently, it is said that the contemnor ‘carries the key to his cell in his own pocket.’ ” Pugliese v. Pugliese, 347 So. 2d 422, 424 (Fla.1977), quoting Demetree v. State, 89 So. 2d 498, 501 (Fla.1956). Since incarceration for civil contempt may only be imposed when the contemnor has the ability to comply with the court’s order, it is counter-productive to place a time limitation on the period of incarceration. Indeed, such a limitation may well encourage spiteful noncompliance. Thus, we respectfully suggest that such limitations not be utilized as a matter of routine practice in judgments for civil contempt.
Accordingly, the judgment on appeal is
AFFIRMED.
HERSEY, C.J., and ANSTEAD and HURLEY, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Alves v. Barnett Mortg. Co. & J.J. Kislak Mortg. Corp., 688 So. 2d 459 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)…n, see Shilli-tani v. United States, 384 U.S. 364, 371 n. 6, 86 S.Ct. 1531, 1536 n. 6, 16 L.Ed.2d 622 (1966), we again suggest that such limitations not be utilized as a matter of routine practice in judgments for civil contempt. See Pasin v. Basin, 480 So. 2d 699 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). Inclusion of a determinate term may blur what should be a bright line between criminal and civil contempt.…
-
Radin v. Radin, 491 So. 2d 290 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. Bowen v. Bowen, 471 So. 2d 1274 (Fla.1985); Pugliese v. Pugliese, 347 So. 2d 422, 424 (Fla.1977); Pasin v. Pasin, 480 So. 2d 699 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985); Bailey v. Bailey, 392 So. 2d 49 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981).…
-
Leone v. Weed, 481 So. 2d 103 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)…n order to permit him the opportunity to propose “alternatives [which] are appropriate to obtain com [*105] pliance with the court order.” Id. at 1279. Finally, we direct the trial court’s attention to this court’s recent decision in Pasin v. Pasin, 480 So. 2d 699 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985), concerning appropriate measures to enforce civil contempt. Accordingly, the trial court’s order of October 23, 1985, is REVERSED. HERSEY, C.J., and GLICKSTEIN, J., concur. . The former wife has not challenged this figure. Our…
Authorities Cited
- Eugenia Bowen & the Fla. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. Bowen, 471 So. 2d 1274 (Fla. 1985)
- Rocco Pugliese v. Pugliese, 347 So. 2d 422 (Fla. 1977)
- Demetree v. State of Fla. ex rel. John D. Marsh, 89 So. 2d 498 (Fla. 1956)