In re Fil Ki

Citations

• 80 Cal. 201
• 22 P. 146
• 1889 Cal. LEXIS 888

Syllabus

<p>Contempt—Imprisonment—Hard Labor—Power of Supervisors— Police Regulation — Habeas Corpus.—A judgment of, imprisonment for contempt of court cannot authorize or justify imprisonment at hard labor; nor have the board of supervisors any power to make a police regulation ordering persons imprisoned for contempt, or as a means adopted to enforce collection of a fine, to be worked on the streets or other public places. A person committed for contempt will be discharged from hard labor on the streets upon writ of habeas corpus, but will not be discharged from imprisonment by reason of being put at such hard labor.</p> <p>Id.—Criminal Nature of Contempt—Misdemeanor.—A contempt is a quasi criminal offense against the court, for which a party may be fined and imprisoned, as for a specific criminal offense, but it is not a misdemeanor in the strict sense of the term.</p>