RHESA HAWKINS BARKSDALE, Circuit Judge:
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, the district court sanctioned Paul S. Minor, an attorney, for obtaining a writ to execute judgment. The primary reason for our en banc review is to decide whether the district court abused its considerable discretion in imposing sanctions for Minor’s violation of Rule 11(b)(1) (“improper purpose” in obtaining writ of execution). The district court acted within its discretion. AFFIRMED.
I.
In May 1997, the district court entered an approximate $3.4 million judgment for Minor’s clients against Kmart Corporation in an action arising out of heinous acts by two individuals not associated with Kmart: their abduction of a mother and her daughter from a Kmart parking lot in Jackson, Mississippi, and the subsequent rape of the mother. A jury found Kmart negligent in failing to provide adequate parking lot security. See Whitehead v. Food Max of Miss., Inc., 163 F.3d 265 (5th Cir.1998).
At trial, Minor was sanctioned $1,000 for violating, during his closing argument, an earlier warning by the district court. Id. at 277 n. 3. This followed Minor’s refusals during trial to follow other court instructions. See id. at 276-77.
In June 1997, shortly after entry of judgment, Kmart moved for a remittitur or, alternatively, a new trial. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 59. In addition, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62(b), it requested a stay of execution of judgment pending resolution of those post-trial motions. That stay motion was not decided, however, until 18 August, when the Rule 59 motions were denied. The accompanying stay motion was then dismissed as moot. That same day, the district court denied Minor’s request to reconsider the $1,000 sanctions imposed at trial.
[800]*800Three days later, using a handwritten request he had signed, Minor obtained from the district court clerk a writ of execution for the judgment (the writ). In addition, Minor notified the media about the pending execution. With media representatives and two United States Marshals, Minor entered the Kmart (the abduction had occurred in its parking lot) and attempted to execute the judgment by seizing currency in the cash registers and vault. The seizure was delayed to allow Kmart’s employees a chance to consult with their management and attorneys; shortly thereafter, it was stayed by the district court. No cash was seized.
While at the Kmart, Minor was interviewed by the media; news reports about the writ-execution, including Minor’s extremely hyperbolic, intemperate, and misleading comments (improper comments), were, among other media, broadcast in at least three television reports. Minor characterized Kmart’s actions as “arrogan[tj” and “outrageous” and asserted Kmart “wo[uld nojt pay” the judgment; claimed Kmart had been “warned” before the abduction that “an event like [that] was going to happen” but “didn’t care”; charged his clients had been twice “victimized” by Kmart, once by being abducted there and once by Kmart’s “not paying ... a just debt”; and proclaimed he was there to ensure Kmart did what it was supposed to do.2
That same day, the district court held a teleconference with the parties: Kmart was directed to submit a supersedeas bond (it later did so); and Kmart advised it would seek sanctions against Minor. Kmart soon moved for sanctions, pursuant, inter alia, to Rule 11.
Kmart charged Minor had violated an automatic ten-day stay of execution of judgment, claimed to be in effect pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62(f), which incorporated Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 62(a). Federal Rule 62(f) provides:
Stay According to State Law. In any state in which a judgment is a lien upon the property of the judgment debtor and in which the judgment debtor is entitled to a stay of execution, a judgment debt- or is entitled, in the district court held therein, to such stay as would be accorded the judgment debtor had the action been maintained in the courts of that state.
Fed R. Civ. P. 62(f) (emphasis added). Mississippi Rule 62(a) provides in part:
Automatic Stay; Exceptions. Except as stated herein or as otherwise provided by statute or by order of the court for good cause shown, no execution shall be issued upon a judgment nor shall proceedings be taken for its enforcement until the expiration of ten days after its entry or the disposition of a motion for a new trial, whichever last occurs.
Miss. R. Civ. P. 62(a) (emphasis added).
Kmart maintained: pursuant to Mississippi Rule 62(a), a ten-day stay is automatic in state court after disposition of a new trial motion; therefore, application of that rule, through Federal Rule 62(f), resulted in a stay from the 18 August denial of Kmart’s new trial motion. Kmart also asserted: Minor, with “numerous newspaper reporters and television interview teams”, and without justification, “paraded through [Kmart] in full view of customers and employees ... orchestrating] damage to Kmart, its business and goodwill”; and his [801]*801“improper purpose” (proscribed by Rule 11(b)(1)) was obvious from these actions. Provided with the motion were copies of two articles from newspapers in Jackson and another city in Mississippi and a videotape of television broadcasts about the attempted execution. These items included Minor’s improper comments.
Minor responded: following denial of the new trial motion, Kmart had not moved> pursuant to Federal Rule 62(f), for the Mississippi Rule 62(a) automatic stay; therefore, no stay had been in effect. (Nothing in the record indicates Minor contended in district court that the judgment did not constitute a lien against Kmart’s property (one of the prerequisites for a Federal Rule 62(f) stay).)
Minor also contended: seeking to obtain a portion of the judgment was not an improper purpose proscribed by Rule 11(b)(1); and, “where counsel’s action has a reasonable basis under the law, a court will not find an improper purpose.... ” Minor’s affidavit stated he attempted execution in order to obtain a portion of the judgment because: (1) Kmart had not returned his telephone calls concerning potential settlement; and (2) he was concerned that Kmart, which he believed to be self-insured, had not posted a supersedeas bond.
The district court apparently delayed ruling on the sanctions motion pending Kmart’s appeal from the judgment in the underlying action. For that appeal, our court held the jury had been influenced by passion and prejudice resulting from Minor’s closing argument; the action was remanded in early 1999 for a new trial on damages. See Whitehead, 163 F.3d at 276-78, 281. That March, in the light of extensive briefing, oral argument (January 1998), and painstaking analysis of the authority construing Federal Rule 62(f), the district court ruled on the sanctions motion.
In a well-reasoned opinion, the court concluded: - a motion is not a prerequisite to a stay under Federal Rule 62(f); and Kmart was protected by the stay against the attempted execution. Whitehead v. Kmart Corp., 202 F.Supp.2d 525, 529-32 (S.D.Miss.1999). Concomitantly, the court concluded that Minor had “failed to make a reasonable inquiry into the law governing execution of judgments.... ” Id. at 532. The court also ruled Minor “was seeking to embarrass [Kmart] and call attention to himself as a tireless laborer of the bar attempting to obtain justice for his client when, in fact, there was no basis whatsoever in fact or in law for the actions taken.... ” Id. at 533.
Minor was ordered to pay Kmart approximately $8,000 — its attorney’s fees for opposing the execution. Id. Although Kmart had requested a public apology by Minor, the district court determined, and Kmart agreed, that publication of the sanctions opinion would suffice. Id. (The opinion was published in 2002, after rendition of the now-vacated panel opinion for this appeal.)
Following the remand-trial on damages, Minor appealed the Rule 11 sanctions. In January 2002, a divided panel reversed them. Whitehead v. Food Max of Miss., Inc., 277 F.3d 791 (5th Cir.), vacated by 308 F.3d 472 (5th Cir.2002) (en banc). (The panel majority included a district judge and Judge Henry A. Politz, who authored the opinion. Judge Politz died prior to our deciding to review this appeal en banc.)
Regarding Rule 11(b)(2) (objective reasonableness of inquiry concerning existing law), the panel majority held: as a matter of law, Federal Rule 62(f) does not afford the stay provided by state law unless the judgment debtor files a motion claiming [802]*802the stay; accordingly, no stay was in effect; and the record did not support a conclusion that, before requesting the writ, Minor failed to make a reasonable inquiry into the governing law. Id. at 794-96.
Concerning Rule 11(b)(1) (improper purpose), the panel majority held: Minor’s “intentional use of publicity for the purpose of embarrassing an adversary” was “patently inappropriate”', but, absent exceptional circumstances, an ulterior motive should not be read into a document filed for a legitimate purpose; and “any consequences that ... flow[ed] from such behavior” was a decision for the state bar. Id. at 796-97 (emphasis added).
The dissent urged that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding independent subparts (b)(1) and (2) were each violated. Id. at 797-802 (Barksdale, J., dissenting). Regarding subpart (b)(2), the dissent stated: it was not necessary to decide, as the majority had, whether a motion is required to trigger a Federal Rule 62(f) stay; at issue was whether Minor’s actions were objectively reasonable in the light of then existing legal authority; and, they were not. Id. at 800-802. As for subpart (b)(1), the dissent stated: Minor’s “improper purpose” provided a separate basis for the sanctions; and they were appropriate in the light of Minor’s media-actions, precisely the type of conduct Rule 11 is designed to remedy. Id. at 802.
Kmart petitioned for panel rehearing. In September 2002, our court decided sua sponte to review en banc, thereby vacating the panel opinion. 308 F.3d 472 (5th Cir.2002) (en banc).
II.
Rule 11(b) provides in pertinent part:
By presenting to the court (whether by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating) a pleading, written motion, or other paper, an attorney ... is certifying that to the best of the person’s knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances,—
(1) it is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation; [and]
(2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions therein are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law....
Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b) (emphasis added). Each obligation must be satisfied; violation of either justifies sanctions. See, e.g., Walker v. City of Bogalusa, 168 F.3d 237, 241 (5th Cir.1999). And, in determining compliance vel non with each obligation, “the standard under which an attorney is measured is an objective, not subjective, standard of reasonableness under the circumstances”. Childs v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 29 F.3d 1018, 1024 (5th Cir.1994).
Rule 11 sanctions are reviewed only for an abuse of discretion, e.g., Lulirama Ltd., Inc. v. Axcess Broad. Servs., Inc., 128 F.3d 872, 884 (5th Cir.1997), including reviewing factual findings only for clear error, e.g., Crowe v. Smith, 261 F.3d 558, 564 (5th Cir.2001). This abuse of discretion standard is necessarily very deferential, for two reasons.
First, “based on its ‘[f]amiliar[ity] with the issues and litigants, the district court is better situated than the court of appeals to marshal the pertinent facts and apply the fact-dependent legal standard mandated by Rule 11’ ”. Lulirama, Ltd., 128 F.3d at 884 (quoting Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 402, 110 [803]*803S.Ct. 2447, 110 L.Ed.2d 359 (1990); emphasis added). See also Mercury Air Group, Inc. v. Mansour, 237 F.3d 542, 548 (5th Cir.2001) (“the imposition of sanctions is often a fact-intensive inquiry, for which the trial court is given wide discretion” (emphasis added)).
Second, the district judge is independently responsible for maintaining the integrity of judicial proceedings in his court and, concomitantly, must be accorded the necessary authority. See, e.g., Cooter & Gell, 496 U.S. at 404, 110 S.Ct. 2447; NASCO, Inc. v. Calcasieu Television and Radio, Inc., 894 F.2d 696, 702-03 (5th Cir.1990) (discussing inherent power of court), aff'd sub nom. Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 111 S.Ct. 2123, 115 L.Ed.2d 27 (1991).
It was for these reasons that our court, in Thomas v. Capital Security Servs., Inc., 836 F.2d 866, 872 (5th Cir.1988) (en banc), established abuse of discretion, rather than in part de novo, as our standard of review for Rule 11 sanctions. This was confirmed by the Supreme Court in Cooter & Gell, partly with reasoning that rings true here:
Rule ll’s policy goals also support adopting an abuse-of-discretion standard. The district court is best acquainted with the local bar’s litigation practices and thus best situated to determine when a sanction is warranted to serve Rule ll’s goal of specific and general deterrence. Deference to the determination of courts on the front lines of litigation will enhance these courts’ ability to control the litigants t before them. Such deference will streamline the litigation process by freeing appellate courts from the duty of reweighing evidence and reconsidering facts already weighed and considered by the district court; it will also discourage litigants from pursuing marginal appeals, thus reducing the amount of satellite litigation.
496 U.S. at 404, 110 S.Ct. 2447 (emphasis added).
For this deferential review, the “district court would necessarily abuse its discretion if it based its ruling on an erroneous view of the law or on a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence”. Id. at 405, 110 S.Ct. 2447. “Generally, an abuse of discretion only occurs where no reasonable person could take the view adopted by the trial court.” Friends for Am. Free Enter. Ass’n v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 284 F.3d 575, 578 (5th Cir.2002) (internal quotation omitted; emphasis added)3.
A.
Subparts (b)(1) and (2) of Rule 11 provide independent bases for sanctions. The district court concluded Minor violated each subpart; therefore, it is only necessary to decide whether he violated one.
1.
Regarding subpart (b)(2) (objective reasonableness of inquiry concerning existing law), Minor’s affidavit in opposition to sanctions stated he relied upon: (1) Van Huss v. Landsberg, 262 F.Supp. 867 (W.D.Mo.1967) (dictum; Minor had cited this opinion earlier in opposing Kmart’s motion for Federal Rule 62(b) stay pending resolution of its post-trial motions); (2) Wright, Miller & Kane, Federal Practice [804]*804& Procedure § 2907 (1995) (motion for Federal Rule 62(f) stay should, not must, be filed); and (3) the district court’s earlier denial (as moot) of Kmart’s post-trial request for the Federal Rule 62(b) stay. The district court ruled that this authority, when juxtaposed against the plain language of the rules, did not support an objectively reasonable belief that no stay was in effect. See Whitehead, 202 F.Supp.2d at 528-32.
Along this line, the panel majority focused on whether, as a matter of law, a motion is required to invoke the stay; it held that it was and that, as a result, no stay was in place to protect Kmart from execution. Instead, the panel should have addressed whether Minor’s belief was objectively reasonable at the time he requested the writ. See, e.g., Thomas, 836 F.2d at 874 (proper focus is “snapshot” of instant when document signed). In any event, because subparts (b)(1) and (2) provide independent bases for sanctions, it is not necessary to decide whether the district court abused its discretion concerning subpart (b)(2). For purposes of deciding whether sanctions could be based on sub-part (b)(1), we will assume Minor did not violate subpart (b)(2).
2.
After determining Minor failed to make a reasonable inquiry (violating subpart (b)(2)), Whitehead, 202 F.Supp.2d at 529-32, and then addressing why Rule ll’s “safe harbor” provision (subpart (c)(1)(A)) did not shelter Minor, id. at 532-33, the district court stated;
Additionally, [Kmart] has submitted to this court several of the articles and news reports which were generated in the local press by the improper execution of judgment in the instant case. It is clear from these unchallenged submissions that [Minor] was seeking to embarrass [Kmart] and call attention to himself as a tireless laborer of the bar attempting to obtain justice for his client when, in fact, there was no basis whatsoever in fact or in law for the actions taken on August 21, 1997. Thus, this court is persuaded that the imposition of appropriate sanctions in this case is justified and proper.
Id. at 533 (emphasis added). As discussed infra, this subpart (b)(1) “improper purpose” ruling is sufficient to sustain the sanctions.
Minor insists we must decide the sub-part (b)(2) issue, asserting that the subpart (b)(1) improper purpose ruling is inextricably intertwined with whether, under sub-part (b)(2), he had an objectively reasonable belief that a stay did not exist. He claims: “[I]f there was authority that even arguably supported what [he] did, there was no basis for the sanctions motion”. In support, Minor notes that the district court’s improper purpose ruling states “there was no basis whatsoever in fact or in law for [Minor’s] actions.... ” Id. at 533.4
[805]*805It is true that, generally, district courts do not sanction attorneys who make nonfrivolous representations. A district court may do so, however, where it is objectively ascertainable that an attorney submitted a paper to the court for an improper purpose. Fed.R.Civ.P. 11(b)(1). See, e.g., Sheets v. Yamaha Motor Corp., 891 F.2d 533, 537-38 (5th Cir.1990); Nat’l Ass’n of Gov’t Employees, Inc. v. Nat’l Fed’n of Fed. Employees, 844 F.2d 216, 224 (5th Cir.1988).
Sheets, for instance, held filing excessive motions could constitute harassment proscribed by Rule 11, even if the motions were well-founded in law or fact. 891 F.2d at 538. Filing otherwise legitimate documents that use abusive language toward opposing counsel could also violate the rule, Coats v. Pierre, 890 F.2d 728, 734 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 821, 111 S.Ct. 70, 112 L.Ed.2d 44 (1990), as could filing a valid pleading or motion without a sincere intent to pursue it, Cohen v. Virginia Elec. & Power Co., 788 F.2d 247 (4th Cir.1986).
We conclude that the district court’s “improper purpose” ruling was independent from its “inquiry concerning existing law” ruling. We base this upon the following factors: (1) the parties’ having squarely placed the improper purpose issue before the district court; (2) its earlier citation to subpart (b)(1) in quoting all of Rule 11(b) in its order, Whitehead, 202 F.Supp.2d at 526 n. 1; (3) its subsequent specific enumeration of Rule 11 bases, including improper purpose, id. at 532 (“Minor presented to this court [a writ-execution request] certifying [(a)] that to the best of his knowledge, information, and belief, formed after a [reasonable] inquiry ... that the [request] was proper; and [(b)] that the letter requesting the lorit of execution was not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass ....”; emphasis added); (4) its then concluding Minor failed to make a subpart (b)(2) reasonable inquiry into the law, id. at 532; and (5) its then discussing Rule ll’s “safe harbor” provision, id. at 532-33, before making its subpart (b)(1) improper purpose ruling, id. at 533. To conclude otherwise would render the improper purpose portion of the opinion superfluous. Moreover, the two subparts concern quite different considerations. And, again, the fact-driven improper purpose ruling can be sustained even if (as we assume for our analysis) there were a basis in law for Minor’s obtaining the writ. The two bases were not intertwined.
3.
A district court may sanction an attorney for presenting a paper to the court for “any improper purpose, such as to harass....” Fed.R.CivP. 11(b)(1) (emphasis added). Although a district court is not to read an ulterior motive into a document “well grounded in fact and law”, it may do so in exceptional cases, such as this, where the improper purpose is objectively ascertainable. See Sheets, 891 F.2d at 537-38.
The district court found Minor had two improper purposes for requesting [806]*806the writ: to embarrass Kmart; and to promote himself. Whitehead, 202 F.Supp.2d at 533. Part of our abuse of discretion review is to determine whether the district court’s ruling was “based ... on a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence”. Cooter & Gell, 496 U.S. at 405, 110 S.Ct. 2447. Pursuant to the well-known standard of review for clear error vel non, we may disturb factual findings, which often involve credibility choices, only if a review of all the evidence leaves us with “the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made”. Tulia Feedlot, Inc. v. United States, 513 F.2d 800, 806 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 947, 96 S.Ct. 362, 46 L.Ed.2d 281 (1975).
In maintaining he had legitimate, not improper, purposes, Minor offered two reasons to the district court for obtaining the writ: obtaining part of the judgment for his clients; and trying to force settlement. The factual findings related to these two reasons were not clearly erroneous.
Obviously, there would not have been enough cash at one local Kmart to satisfy the $3.4 million judgment. In addition, the execution was unnecessary to secure the judgment; the judgment constituted a lien against Kmart’s property in Mississippi. Again, nothing in the record indicates Minor disputed in district court that the judgment constituted such a lien. See, e.g., Miss.Code Ann. § 11-7-191; see also Fed. R.Civ.P. 62(f). Minor notes that Kmart is currently in bankruptcy; this, of course, is irrelevant to Minor’s purpose at the time in question (August 1997). In any event, even if Minor’s purpose were only to obtain a portion of the judgment, the district court did not clearly err in finding Minor also had separate, improper purposes.
Assuming arguendo that attempting to force settlement is proper, but see, e.g., Elster v. Alexander, 122 F.R.D. 593, 604 (N.D.Ga.1988) (attempt to coerce settlement not proper), Minor offered the following explanation to the district court: he had attempted to contact Kmart, but it had refused to return his telephone calls or speak to him about the case; therefore, he was forced to take this drastic measure to open lines of communication.
The record, however, contains only one letter from Minor requesting settlement discussions (3 June 1997, shortly before Kmart filed its post-trial motions). That letter does not reflect how many calls were made by Minor. In any event, his claim that Kmart refused all communication is belied by his letter: “I am sorry we have been missing each other and I appreciate you returning my phone calls ”. (Emphasis added.)
Minor’s letter states he was attempting to ascertain whether Kmart wished to engage in settlement discussions before posting an appeal bond. At the time of the letter, through mid-August, Kmart’s post-trial motions (e.g. for a new trial) were pending. After the court ruled on the motions, Minor gave Kmart only three days before attempting to execute. There is no evidence that Minor attempted to contact Kmart during this three-day period. Accordingly, it was not clearly erroneous for the district court to reject Minor’s claim that he was forced to obtain the writ in order to initiate settlement discussion.
In addition, it was not clearly erroneous for the district court, by implication, to find that neither of these claimed purposes explained either Minor’s presence at the execution or his collateral media play. The execution did not require Minor to accompany the two United States Marshals to the Kmart (especially where, as here, the involved property was well-known, open, and obvious). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 69. See also MooRe’s FedeRal [807]*807PRACTICE — Civil § 69.02 (2002). And, the execution certainly did not require the media’s presence at the Kmart or the improper comments Minor made there to the media.
In fact, Minor does not dispute that he intended to embarrass Kmart or that he was seeking personal recognition. Most regrettably, he contends that these are far from being evidence of an improper purpose in obtaining the writ (e.g., “[ajlmost everything an attorney in litigation does ... is designed to embarrass an opponent in one way or another”; “establishing a reputation for success in the representation of clients is the most professional way for a lawyer to build a practice”). It was not clearly erroneous for the district court to find that each of Minor’s intended goals was evidence of an improper purpose.
Claiming a purpose to embarrass is different than one to harass, Minor seems to contend that, because Rule 11 explicitly refers to harassment, and because that was not his purpose, his admitted intent to embarrass cannot be an improper purpose under the rule. On this record, there is no meaningful distinction between these two purposes, especially in the light of our deferential standard of review. See, e.g., Flaherty v. Torquato, 623 F.Supp. 55, 59-60 (W.D.Pa.1985) (using harass and embarrass interchangeably in context of Rule 11 improper purpose discussion), aff'd by 800 F.2d 1133 (3rd Cir.1986). Regardless, Minor misreads Rule 11.
Even assuming that Minor’s purpose to embarrass Kmart was not, in essence, a purpose to harass, Rule ll’s list of improper purposes is only illustrative; “to harass” is but one of the possible improper purposes. Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b)(1) (“any improper purpose, such as to harass ...” (emphasis added)).
The media event orchestrated by Minor, in particular, constitutes objective evidence of his improper purpose in obtaining the writ. See, e.g., Ivy v. Kimbrough, 115 F.3d 550, 553 (8th Cir.1997) (no abuse of discretion in imposing Rule 11 sanctions, where, inter alia, conduct was “aimed at the media” and “primarily for local media consumption”); Kramer v. Tribe, 156 F.R.D. 96 (D.N.J.1994), aff'd mthout opinion, 52 F.3d 315 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 907, 116 S.Ct. 274, 133 L.Ed.2d 195 (1995) (imposing Rule 11 sanctions because, among other things, giving misleading reports to media demonstrated improper purpose motives (including intent to embarrass)). Again, the district court had an unchallenged videotape of, inter alia, Minor’s improper comments. The district court’s finding “[i]t ... clear from [the] unchallenged” newspaper articles and videotape that Minor had an improper purpose, Whitehead, 202 F.Supp.2d at 533 (emphasis added), is a classic example of Minor’s being “[h]oist with his own petard”. William ShaKespeare, Hamlet act 3, sc. 4. Minor’s improper comments, preserved by the very entity he enlisted to embarrass Kmart and promote himself were, instead, arguably the best evidence of his improper purpose in obtaining the writ.
Before our en banc court, Minor raises, for the first time, First Amendment considerations with regard to his improper comments. No authority need be cited for the rule that, because the record does not reflect that Minor raised these points in district court, we will not consider them on appeal. In any event, the improper purpose in obtaining the writ, not the vehicle (such as the media) used to implement that improper purpose, is what is decided by the sanctioning court and reviewed on appeal. In other words, under subpart (b)(1), Minor’s attempted execution is not the issue; his underlying “improper purpose” in obtaining the writ is. The collat[808]*808eral media play simply constitutes objective evidence of that improper purpose.
Finally, Minor asserts that, although his conduct may not have been “civil”, it is not sanctionable. He maintains: civility is “aspirational” and beyond the power of the law; and if our court wants to impose civility rules, we should adopt them. Along this line, Minor takes issue with any suggestion in the vacated panel opinion that his conduct was unethical. See Whitehead, 277 F.3d at 796-97. He further contends: even if his conduct were unethical, the appropriate remedy would be referral to the state bar for possible discipline, not imposition of Rule 11 sanctions. This issue is also raised for the first time on appeal. Because the vacated panel opinion addressed the issue in part, see id., we will consider it.
Minor again understates the severity of his conduct and overlooks both the district court’s broad authority to impose Rule 11 sanctions and our deferential standard of review. Whether Minor’s conduct violated civility and ethics rules is for others to act upon; in any event, his conduct violated Rule 11.
These categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, the rules advisory committee has recognized that some overlap exists between state bar discipline and Rule 11 sanctions; its notes to Rule 11 state that one possible sanction for a violation of Rule 11 is referral to a state bar authority. See also Kramer, 156 F.R.D. 96 (imposing sanctions and referring matter to state bar). District courts have an independent duty to maintain the integrity of the judicial process and may impose Rule 11 sanctions where necessary, regardless of whether state bar discipline is concurrent.
Rule 11 limits sanctions “to what is sufficient to deter repetition of such conduct or comparable conduct by others similarly situated”. Fed.R.Civ.P. 11(c)(2). In addition to publishing its sanctions opinion, the district court limited the sanctions to “the reasonable attorneys’ fees and other expenses incurred as a direct result of the violation”, id. Minor does not challenge this aspect of the order.
4.
In sum, there was no abuse of discretion. The district court spoke with counsel, including Minor, on the day of the incident and was quite familiar with the parties and litigants. Minor’s execution attempt followed his improper conduct at trial. See Whitehead, 163 F.3d at 276-77 n. 3; see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 advisory committee’s note (“whether [sanctionable conduct] was part of a pattern of activity, or an isolated event” is “[a] proper consideration”).
Generally, writ-execution for the purpose of satisfying a judgment is proper. Minor’s conduct, however, was exceptional. Although it was only three days after disposition of post-trial motions, with significant time remaining for Kmart to appeal the judgment and post a supersedeas bond, Minor, after obtaining the execution writ: invited the media to one of Kmart’s places of business to execute judgment in plain view of Kmart’s customers and employees; and made improper comments to the media regarding the case, Kmart, and Kmart’s willingness to satisfy the judgment.
The district court found, based in part on the videotape, that Minor had improper purposes in obtaining the writ: to embarrass Kmart and advance his personal position. The district court, of course, is in a far better position than we to balance the considerations underlying rulings on Rule 11 sanctions, most especially the concomitant factual findings (including credibility [809]*809choices). Obviously, this is why we review its decision under a very deferential abuse of discretion standard. For the subpart (b)(1) improper purpose ruling: the record does not support these findings being clearly erroneous; nor was there “an erroneous view of the law”. See Cooter & Gell, 496 U.S. at 405, 110 S.Ct. 2447.
B.
Minor moves for summary reversal and imposition of sanctions against Kmart, or for remand for fact-finding and such sanctions, contending: Kmart caused the attempted execution by earlier, false responses during discovery that it was self-insured; and, had Minor known of insurance covering the judgment, he would not have attempted to execute. (It appears Kmart was partly self-insured, with umbrella coverage.)
The relief sought by Minor’s motion was requested, for the first time, while this appeal was pending. In his motion, Minor stated this claim was neither known, nor confirmed, until well after his appeal was filed. The panel majority did not address the motion, in the light of its reversing the sanctions. Whitehead, 277 F.3d at 791.
Minor fails to connect how his understanding of Kmart’s self-insured status justified his improper-purpose conduct. Kmart’s discovery responses do not affect the considerations underlying whether Minor’s purpose in obtaining the writ was proper. (We express no opinion on whether Minor can seek relief in district court based on the challenged discovery responses.)
III.
For the foregoing reasons, the sanctions are AFFIRMED; Minor’s motion for summary reversal or remand is DENIED.
SANCTIONS AFFIRMED; MOTION DENIED.