G.S., A CHILD; C.S., A CHILD; A.J., A CHILD; AND A.J., A CHILD, PETITIONERS,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. 5th DCA | 1998-03-06
Nos. 98-397 to 98-399, 98-401
HARRIS and ANTOON, JJ., concur.
709 So. 2d 122 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1998) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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.

Synopsis

Four juveniles on community control were found in indirect contempt for violating their orders and placed in secure detention. They petitioned for habeas corpus, arguing the court abused its discretion. The court upheld the contempt findings and detention, holding that Florida law authorizes courts to place juveniles in secure facilities as punishment for contempt of court orders.


Holding

A court may place a juvenile in secure detention as punishment for indirect contempt of a community control order. The statute authorizes courts to impose contempt sanctions for violating community control orders, and while consequence units are contemplated by statute, their use is not mandatorily required for contempt punishment. Secure detention in a juvenile detention facility is authorized as an alternative sanction for contempt violations.


Headnotes

[1] A court may punish a juvenile for contempt for violating a community control order.

[2] Secure detention may be used as punishment for contempt of court for violating a juvenile's community control order.

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Key Quotes

“In response to that holding, the Legislature amended the juvenile delinquency statute to provide that secure detention may be used as punishment for contempt of court.”

Explains the statutory authorization for secure detention as contempt punishment, enacted in response to AA v. Rolle

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Facts & Procedural History

Each of the four juveniles was on community control and violated the terms of their community control orders. Following show cause hearings, each juve…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

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Opinion of the Court
W. SHARP, Judge.

W. SHARP, Judge.

Because these four cases involving juveniles1 raise the same issue of law, we consolidate them for purposes of disposition. Each juvenile, while on community control, was found to be in indirect contempt of court for violating a community control order and was placed in secure detention. Respectively, they each argue in a petition for writ of habeas corpus that the court abused its discretion and exceeded its powers by finding them in contempt and by placing them in secure detention as punishment for violating community control. We deny the petitions.

Section 985.216(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1997) provides that a delinquent child who has been held in direct or indirect contempt may be placed in a secure detention facility for five days for a first offense or for fifteen days for a second or subsequent offense. In these cases, the juveniles were placed in the Volusia County Juvenile Detention Facility for different time periods, all exceeding five days. In some cases, part of the detention time was suspended so long as the child complied with his or her order of community control. The record fails to show whether the contempt findings were first or second offenses in each case. However, the attorney for each juvenile, respectively, does not argue the time limits of the statute were violated in the case. Thus we assume no error occurred below because of the length of secure detention imposed.

Counsel reasons that section 985.231(l)(a)l.e.(I), Florida Statutes (1997) provides that a child who has been found to have violated community control may be placed in a “consequence unit in that judicial circuit, if available.” (emphasis supplied) A consequence unit is a secure facility specifically designated by the Department for children who are taken into custody under section 985.207 for violating community control or aftercare, or who have been found by the court to have violated the conditions of community control or aftercare. Other than indicating consequence units are intended to be secure facilities, the statute does not further elaborate on their nature. Counsel asserts that the juvenile detention center is not a “consequence unit,” and thus is not a proper facility for punishing juveniles who have violated community control, and are being punished by contempt proceedings.

A “consequence unit” is a new concept introduced as part of the 1997 amendments2 to the juvenile delinquency statute — a piece of legislation that grows ever more complex with each legislative session. Since this is early 1998, the Department may not have fully implemented the amendment, which calls for the establishment of new facilities designated consequence units. It does not appear that the statute mandates the creation of consequence units, and apparently no funds were appropriated for their construction. No one claims a consequence unit currently exists in Volusia County.

However, this is not a violation case. In AA v. Rolle, 604 So. 2d 813 (Fla.1992), the Florida Supreme Court held that a court cannot use secure detention to punish a juvenile for contempt of court. In response to that holding, the Legislature amended the juvenile delinquency statute to provide that secure detention may be used as punishment for contempt of court. § 985.216(1), Fla. Stat. (1997). The amendment states that a court may punish any child by contempt for interfering with the court administration, or for violating “any provision of this chapter or order of the court relative thereto.” (emphasis supplied) This broad authority granted to the courts clearly includes a contempt sanction for violating a community control order. The statute further provides: “A child who commits direct contempt of court or indirect contempt of a valid court order may be taken into custody and ordered to serve an alternative sanction or placed in a secure facility, as authorized in this section, by order of the court.” (emphasis supplied).

Contempt appears to be an alternative permissible procedure to address juvenile vi olators of community control. Thus, use of consequence units may not be mandated by the statute for contempt punishment, even if they did exist in Volusia County. At least the statute in its present form does not appear to require their use.

Although show cause orders for contempt and affidavits of community control violations may both allege conduct which would constitute a violation of community control, the contempt procedure is authorized and stands separately from the violation procedures and remedies. The only apparent limitations imposed by the appellate courts deal with double jeopardy concerns. See N.T. v. State, 682 So. 2d 688 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). The juveniles in this case have not been charged with violating community control in addition to contempt of court proceedings for the same conduct. Thus, double jeopardy is not involved in these cases.

We deny the petitions for habeas corpus because no showing has been made that the juveniles are entitled to immediate release.

Petitions for Writ of Habeas Corpus consolidated and DENIED.

HARRIS and ANTOON, JJ., concur. . In the Interest of G.S., Case Nos. 97-33063, 97-33311, and 97-33487; In the Interest of C.S., Case Nos. 97-30596 and 97-32334; In the interest of A.J., Case No. 97-30210; In the Interest of A.J., Case Nos. 97-31569, 97-32405, and 97-33412.

. Ch. 97-238, Laws of Fla.

Other
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

We grant Petitioner’s motion for rehearing in one respect only. We delete the last two sentences of the fourth paragraph of the original opinion. [Editor’s Note: Amendment incorporated for publication purposes.]

W. SHARP, HARRIS and ANTOON, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • J.M. v. Gargett, 101 So. 3d 352 (Fla. 2012)
    …s when the contemptuous act is committed outside the presence of the court.” A.A. v. Rolle, 604 So. 2d 813, 814 n. 3 (Fla.1992) (citing Pugliese v. Pugliese, 347 So. 2d 422, 425 (Fla.1977)), superseded by statute on other grounds, see G.S. v. State, 709 So. 2d 122 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). " ‘Direct’ contempt,” by contrast, "occurs when the act constituting the contempt is committed in the immediate presence of the court.” Id. at 814 n. 5. . Chapter 985 defines a "[s]ecure detention center or facility” as "a phys…
  • B.M. v. Dobuler, 979 So. 2d 308 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)
    …a. Stat. (2007); R.G., 817 So. 2d at 1020; see, e.g., T.M. v. Dobuler, 959 So. 2d 279, 280 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007) (noting that contempt is “an alternative permissible procedure to address juvenile violators of community control)” (quoting G.S. v. State, 709 So. 2d 122, 123-24 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)). The court ordered, but did not conduct, such a proceeding in this case. Instead, the court chose to accept a plea by B.M. for violation by her of her probation and set her case for disposition. Having so chosen, the cou…
  • T.M. v. Dobuler, 959 So. 2d 279 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007)
    …rit of habeas corpus. § 985.037(1), Fla. Stat. (2007) (“The court may punish any child for contempt for interfering with the court ..., or for violating any provision of this chapter or order of the court relative thereto.”); see also G.S. v. State, 709 So. 2d 122, 123-24 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)(“Contempt appears to be an alternative permissible procedure to address juvenile violators of community control.”); cf. Cason v. State, 604 So. 2d 928 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)(where an adult defendant allegedly violated conditi…

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