The article reports that the Fourth Circuit of the U.S. Court of appeals has overturned contempt citations and fines imposed against city officials who had failed to comply with a race bias consent decree. The court decided that the purpose of the proceeding was to penalize the city officials and vindicate the authority of the trial court. Charges of race bias towards policemen bad been resolved in the decree. The Appeals Court found the officials were not told that criminal contempt proceedings were being held and thus they were entitled to an attorney and a jury trial.
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