Once Released from Jail, No Appeal of Contempt Finding

Memphis Old Bridge

Tennessee case summary on appeal from contempt finding.

Pamela D. Stark v. Joe Edward Stark

The wife in this Shelby County, Tennessee, case was an attorney, and the husband was a police sergeant.  After five years of marriage, the wife filed for divorce.  Under Tennessee law, the filing of a divorce case puts into play an automatic injunction.  Among other things, one spouse is prohibited from harassing the other.

Months after filing for divorce, the wife made a Facebook post which included allegations of an alleged incident of domestic violence.  The husband filed for a restraining order, and alleged that the posting disparaged him and his department.  He alleged that the post might result in his loss of employment or demotion.

The wife argued that her post was critical of the police department, and not of her husband.  She also argued that the restraining order would infringe on her constitutional rights.

The case was heard by Judge Weiss.  While acknowledging the freedom of speech argument, he noted that the posting (especially since there was also an e-mail to the mayor) amounted to a disparaging communication to the spouse’s employer, in violation of the automatic injunction.    Judge Weiss ordered her to remove the post the same day.  When she refused, she was taken into custody.  When she refused a second time, she was held in direct contempt and held in custody until she changed her mind.  After four hours, she agreed to remove the post and was released.  The wife then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The appeals court first agreed with the husband that only the contempt finding was properly before the court.  Since the divorce action itself remained pending, the other issues were not appealable.  That included the validity of the restraining order.

The wife had, however, purged herself of contempt by agreeing to remove the post after four hours.  The appeals court therefore held that the appeal was moot, since she was no longer in contempt.

The wife argued to the appellate judges that the contempt was a “blight” on her record.  However, the appeals court found this argument unconvincing.  The underlying issues were still before the trial court, and she would have a chance to litigate them there.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal.  It also assessed the costs of the appeal against the wife.

No. W2019-00650-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 31,  2020).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see The Tennessee Divorce Process: How Divorces Work Start to Finish.