Reading Men’s Magazine in Court Costs Attorney $300

Legal Ethics

Reading Men’s Magazine in Court Costs Attorney $300

Posted Jan 25, 2008, 12:57 pm CST
By Martha Neil

A North Carolina judge held an attorney in contempt this week after spotting him reading a copy of Maxim that featured a scantily clad Heidi Montag (headlined as "The Hills' Hottest Bad Girl") on the cover.

Although attorney Todd Paris protested that the men's magazine is not pornography and that it was his girlfriend who subscribed to it, Rowan County District Judge Kevin Eddinger was not persuaded that it constituted appropriate courtroom reading. He found Paris in contempt for displaying offensive material in court, giving him a 15-day suspended jail sentence and fining him $300, reports the Salisbury Post.

"The contemnor's conduct interrupted the proceedings of the court and impaired the respect due its authority. In addition, the contemnor's actions were grossly inappropriate, patently offensive, and violative of Rule 12 of the General Rules of Practice," Eddinger wrote in his order. "Courtroom staff, law enforcement, members of the Bar and the general public shall be able to conduct courtroom business in an atmosphere free of the display of offensive material as demonstrated by the contemnor, thus necessitating this action."

The magazine apparently was confiscated and labeled as Exhibit A in the contempt case. A photo of the Maxim cover is provided as part of a TMZ account of the incident.

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Posted by John - 10 months, 6 days, 21 hours, 18 minutes ago

Can someone please share a copy of the First Amendment with this Judge.
Posted by John - 10 months, 6 days, 21 hours, 18 minutes ago

Can someone please share a copy of the First Amendment with this Judge.
Posted by RowanCounty_Girl - 10 months, 5 days, 5 hours, 43 minutes ago

Yes! please! This judge has overstepped his bounds. Plus he should be charged with the same contempt order. The courtroom had no idea what was going on until the judge (and I use the term loosely) held it up and showed it to everyone!!!! He is the one who displayed the mag to everybody!! I assure you if I had been in there and was reading cosmo, nothing would have been said. Perhaps this was more of a personal and political agenda of Eddinger’s. He should be look at by the bar.
Posted by Darlene - 10 months, 4 days, 23 hours, 57 minutes ago

When judges are allowed to run unopposed and operate in a vacumn they begin to think they are God. The title of this and all the surrounding publicity should be, “ Judge Exercises Poor Judgement “ HE is the one who disrupted the proceedings, showed the “offensive “cover to the courtroom and made a mockery of the bench and the proceedings. Who does he answer to ? People of Salisbury NC who wait long hours for their cases to heard, should think about a write in candidate to oppose this grand standing ego maniac…maybe Todd Paris for District Court Judge in Nov ?????
Posted by Jona Goldschmidt - 10 months, 4 days, 4 hours, 30 minutes ago

See my article “‘Order in the Court!: Constitutional Issues in the Law of Courtroom Decorum,“ forthcoming this spring in Hamline L. Rev., in which I discuss unconstitutional rules such as no writing, no reading, no talking, no facial expressions, and attire requiremenmts.
Posted by Go Judge Eddinger!! - 10 months, 4 days, 1 hour, 50 minutes ago

Judge Eddinger did the right thin. Todd Paris is a Harassing pig of a man, and deserves what he has coming to him!

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