Taylor v. Hayes
United States Supreme Court
418 U.S. 488 (1974)
- Written by Gonzalo Rodriguez, JD
Facts
Daniel Taylor (plaintiff) was an attorney representing a client in a criminal trial before Kentucky circuit-court judge John Hayes (defendant). Because of Taylor’s behavior, Taylor was held in contempt of court nine times throughout the trial. Instead of issuing summary punishment, Hayes waited until the end of the trial to address Taylor’s contempt charges. When Taylor requested to speak on his own behalf, Hayes prohibited him from doing so, threatening to gag Taylor if he spoke on his defense. Hayes convicted Taylor of nine counts of contempt of court. Taylor appealed the sentence to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, arguing in part that he was not afforded adequate notice and opportunity to defend himself. The court of appeals affirmed the judgment. Taylor petitioned the United States Supreme Court for review, and the Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (White, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
