In re the Dependency of A.K

130 Wash. App. 862, 2005 WL 3473318
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedDecember 20, 2005
DocketNos. 23018-0-III; 23211-5-III; 23253-1-III; 23252-2-III
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 130 Wash. App. 862 (In re the Dependency of A.K) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Dependency of A.K, 130 Wash. App. 862, 2005 WL 3473318 (Wash. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

¶1

Schultheis, J.

— With this opinion we address consolidated cases of dependent juveniles, A.K., M.H.-O., andY.H., who were sentenced to detention under the court’s inherent contempt power. Each juvenile was found in contempt of court several times for running away from court-ordered [867]*867placement. The substantive issues on appeal are whether and how the court may exercise its inherent contempt authority to exceed the seven-day detention allowed under chapter 13.34 RCW.

¶2 We conclude that the juvenile court properly imposes a determinate period of detention under its inherent contempt authority only when it finds that the statutory remedy is inadequate to meet the juvenile’s needs and that a different period of detention is necessary. This exercise of inherent contempt authority must satisfy due process. Because we find that one of the inherent contempt disposition orders here was not supported by specific findings, and that another order violated due process, those orders are vacated. We affirm the remaining two orders of inherent contempt because they are supported by sufficient findings and satisfy due process.

Contempt of Court and Juvenile Disobedience of Placement Orders

¶3 Contempt of court is intentional disrespectful behavior toward the court, disobedience of a lawful court action, or refusal to participate in the court process. RCW 7-.21.010(1). The contempt statutes adopted in 1989 distinguish between two general types of contempt sanctions: remedial and punitive. RCW 7.21.010. A remedial sanction is imposed to coerce performance of “an act that is yet in the person’s power to perform.” RCW 7.21.010(3). A punitive sanction punishes a past contempt “for the purpose of upholding the authority of the court.” RCW 7.21.010(2). The remedial sanction is imposed for civil contempt and the punitive sanction is imposed for criminal contempt. In re Interest of Rebecca K., 101 Wn. App. 309, 314, 2 P.3d 501 (2000).

¶4 Even a contempt sanction that involves detention remains coercive and remedial if the contemnor can purge the contempt and obtain release. In re Interest of M.B., 101 Wn. App. 425, 439, 3 P.3d 780 (2000). The opportunity to [868]*868purge effectively places the keys of the prison in the contemnor’s pocket. Id. On the other hand, a determinate period of detention without an opportunity to purge is usually considered punitive and criminal. Id. To comport with due process, the court must afford the contemnor facing punitive contempt sanctions the same due process rights afforded other criminal defendants. Id. at 439-40.

¶5 The juveniles here were found in contempt of dependency placement orders. RCW 13.34.165(1) provides that a party who fails to comply with a dependency order may be found in civil contempt of court “as provided in RCW 7-.21.030(2)(e).” This latter subsection authorizes a “remedial sanction” of “commitment to juvenile detention for a period of time not to exceed seven days.” RCW 7.21-.030(2)(e). On several occasions, the juvenile court found that these dependent juveniles violated placement orders, found them in contempt, and imposed remedial sanctions under RCW 13.34.165. Yet, soon after the juveniles purged contempt by writing essays or participating in other affirmative actions, they ran away again. The juvenile court eventually concluded that the statutory scheme did not provide an adequate remedy and decided to resort to its inherent contempt power.

¶6 All constitutional courts are vested with independent inherent power to punish violations of court orders. Int’l Union, United Mine Workers of Am. v. Bagwell, 512 U.S. 821, 831, 114 S. Ct. 2552, 129 L. Ed. 2d 642 (1994); State v. Ralph Williams’ N.W. Chrysler Plymouth, Inc., 87 Wn.2d 327, 335, 553 P.2d 442 (1976). This inherent power may not be nullified or restricted by statute. M.B., 101 Wn. App. at 452; State v. Norlund, 31 Wn. App. 725, 729, 644 P.2d 724 (1982). “But neither may courts deviate from the statutory scheme unless the statutory powers are in some specific way inadequate.” M.B., 101 Wn. App. at 452. As noted in Norlund, the inherent contempt power must be exercised with caution and within narrow limits: “Only under the most egregious circumstances should the juvenile court exercise its contempt power to incarcerate a status offender in a secure facility. If such action is necessary, the [869]*869record should demonstrate that all less restrictive alternatives have failed.”1 31 Wn. App. at 729.

¶7 In M.B., Division One of this court recently addressed contempt detention periods that were longer than the seven-day statutory detention limit prescribed by chapter 13.32A RCW (affecting minors found to be at-risk-youth or children in need of services) and chapter 28A.225 RCW (affecting truant minors). Amicus argued in M.B. that the juvenile court had the right to rely on its inherent contempt authority rather than on statutorily-based contempt sanctions. 101 Wn. App. at 451. Division One noted, however, that the juvenile court in those cases did not specifically find that the statutory remedy was inadequate:

On the rare occasion when a juvenile court decides it must disregard the statutory seven-day limit and resort to its inherent contempt powers, the court must enter a finding as to why the statutory remedy is inadequate and articulate a reasonable basis for believing why some other specific period of detention will achieve what seven days will not.

Id. at 453; see also State v. Boatman, 104 Wn.2d 44, 48, 700 P.2d 1152 (1985) (“before the inherent power of the court can be used, the court must determine that reliance on the statutory basis would be inadequate”).

¶8 The juvenile court, as a division of the constitutional superior court, is vested with the inherent power to punish for contempt. Bagwell, 512 U.S. at 831; In re Pers. Restraint of Dalluge, 152 Wn.2d 772, 779, 100 P.3d 279 (2004). As with all constitutional courts, the juvenile court in a dependency proceeding must exercise this power only when necessary under the circumstances of a particular case.

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Bluebook (online)
130 Wash. App. 862, 2005 WL 3473318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-dependency-of-ak-washctapp-2005.