By Mark Wineka
Salisbury Post
Please, someone, call Denny Crane, because this would make a perfect episode for television’s “Boston Legal.”
When Rowan County District Court Judge Kevin Eddinger held attorney Todd Paris in contempt for reading a men’s magazine in court last week, it understandably set off discussion about what is appropriate courtroom decorum and who was in the right, Paris or Eddinger?
But the incident also proved to be a lesson in how our multi-media world ó especially the Internet ó can give life to a story, if certain ingredients are in place.
The Salisbury courtroom incident appears to have the necessary doses of sex, law and television reality show to make it worthy of national news coverage and good fodder for Hollywood gossip and lawyerly Web sites.
Bloggers on those Web sites have weighed in mightily, with opinions on everything from the merits of Eddinger’s decision and Paris’ First Amendment rights to how good or bad reality television personality Heidi Montag looks on the cover of the Maxim magazine in question.
Paris continued to deliberate Monday whether he would appeal Eddinger’s contempt order, which included a $300 fine, a 15-day suspended jail sentence for a year and unsupervised probation.
Paris said he would reach a decision Monday night and has promised to share it with a host of media outlets, including the Post, The Wall Street Journal, Maxim, Court TV, TMZ and local television stations.
An appeal would go to Superior Court, and Paris said if he did pursue the case, he would likely retain an attorney other than himself.
Paris was in contact Monday with fellow Salisbury attorney David Bingham, who serves as a N.C. State Bar Association counselor ó a liaison in this area between attorneys and the state Bar.
One aspect that could make Paris lean toward an appeal is that he was found in criminal contempt, not civil contempt. Paris said he doesn’t want a criminal conviction on his record.
Eddinger said Monday the Bar Association counselor concurred with his assessment that judicial rule prohibits him from comment on a pending proceeding. (Paris has 10 days to appeal.)
News and comments on the contempt order spread from the Post’s initial report last Friday to Web sites nationwide.
The Wall Street Journal’s law blog had more than 80 comments posted by Monday morning. Other legal Web sites such as Law and More, American Bar Association Journal, Legal Trade and Attorney Help also had stories and reactions.
Comments on the legal blogs covered the gamut.
Some people claimed that Eddinger was an arrogant, “power-mad” judge who overreacted. Others gave him kudos for acting appropriately and criticized Paris.
They said it was wrong to be reading anything in the courtroom while the judge was sitting at the bench.
(For a sampling of blogger comments on legal blogs, see the related story.)
Comments also compared Paris’ behavior to office situations where women might feel uncomfortable if provocative, centerfold-type pictures were on display in a coworker’s office or cubicle. Some went so far as to claim it was sexual harassment in the workplace.
The Post’s harassment policy, for example, says sexual harassment can occur when it interferes with an employee’s work performance “or creates an intimidating, difficult, hostile or offensive work environment.”
The policy goes on to say harassment is a serious offense, “and any employee found to have engaged in such conduct is subject to severe discipline which may include termination.”
In North Carolina, the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism includes a “Lawyer’s Professionalism Creed.”
As part of the creed, an attorney says, “To the courts and other tribunals and to those who assist them, I offer respect, truthfulness and courtesy. I will strive to bring honor to the search for justice.”
Some of the other discussions on the attorney blogs refer to case law and Rule 12 of the General Rules of Practice, which Eddinger said Paris violated.
Eddinger’s order said courtroom staff, law enforcement, Bar Association members and the general public “shall conduct courtroom business in an atmosphere free of display of offensive material as demonstrated by the contemner.”
While some bloggers said Eddinger applied the rule correctly, others suggested his contempt order would not hold up on appeal.
It also turns out, according to some attorneys, that a University of Nevada at Las Vegas law student was charged with sexual harassment in 2002 for reading a Maxim magazine during class.
“The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) got involved, and the charges were eventually dropped,” a blogger on The Wall Street Journal Web site said. “The Maxim case caused quite a stir around the UNLV law school campus at the time.”
But Salisbury’s story went in a totally different direction, too, because the Maxim in question featured Heidi Montag on the cover.
Montag, in a provocative pose on the Maxim cover, first appeared on the “Laguna Beach” reality show, followed now by a spin-off called “The Hills.”
Celebrity Web sites such as TMZ, Gone Hollywood, The Hollywood Gossip and Celebrity Blend Gossip picked up on the news from Salisbury simply because it mentioned Montag.
They were all about Heidi, not the legal questions.
“Why isn’t she on the cover of “Equestrian Monthly?” a not-so-kind blogger on TMZ.com asked.
“I bet that issue is going to be Maxim’s lowest selling issue ever,” another blogger chimed in.
The headline on the Gone Hollywood Web site said, “Heidi Montag: It’s against the law to even look at her.”
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or mwineka@salisburypost.com.