Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree

Definition under New York law

PL 215.50 · Original statutory wording; excerpts must be read together with the full section.

§ 215.50 Criminal contempt in the second degree. A person is guilty of criminal contempt in the second degree when he engages in any of the following conduct: 1. Disorderly, contemptuous, or insolent behavior, committed during the sitting of a court, in its immediate view and presence and directly tending to interrupt its proceedings or to impair the respect due to its authority; or 2. Breach of the peace, noise, or other disturbance, directly tending to interrupt a court's proceedings; or 3. Intentional disobedience or resistance to the lawful process or other mandate of a court except in cases involving or growing out of labor disputes as defined by subdivision two of section seven hundred fifty-three-a of the judiciary law; or 4. Contumacious and unlawful refusal to be sworn as a witness in any court proceeding or, after being sworn, to answer any legal and proper interrogatory; or 5. Knowingly publishing a false or grossly inaccurate report of a court's proceedings; or 6. Intentional failure to obey any mandate, process or notice, issued pursuant to articles sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, or eighteen-a of the judiciary law, or to rules adopted pursuant to any such statute or to any special statute establishing commissioners of jurors and prescribing their duties or who refuses to be sworn as provided therein; or 7. On or along a public street or sidewalk within a radius of two hundred feet of any building established as a courthouse, he calls aloud, shouts, holds or displays placards or signs containing written or printed matter, concerning the conduct of a trial being held in such courthouse or the character of the court or jury engaged in such trial or calling for or demanding any specified action or determination by such court or jury in connection with such trial. Criminal contempt in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor.

In everyday language

Criminal contempt in the second degree is disobeying a lawful court order — most often an order of protection — or disruptive behavior in a courtroom, or refusing to be sworn or to testify as directed.

At a criminal trial, the prosecutor must prove every element of the charged subsection and that you committed the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. An accusation is not proof of guilt. Where the statute provides alternatives, the prosecutor need not prove every alternative; the charged theory matters. Affirmative defenses may have different proof rules.