interpreting the act of 1831 and was grounded on historical
error. For these reasons it was reversed in Nye _v._ United States[37]
and the theory of constructive contempt based on the "reasonable
tendency" rule rejected in a proceeding wherein defendants in a civil
suit, by persuasion and the use of liquor, induced a plaintiff feeble in
mind and body to ask for dismissal of the suit he had brought against
them. The events in the episode occurred more than 100 miles from where
the Court was sitting, and were held not to put the persons responsible
for them in contempt of court.

Bridges _v._ California

Although Nye _v._ United States is exclusively a case of statutory
construction, it is significant from a constitutional point of view in
that its reasoning is contrary to that of earlier cases narrowly
construing the act of 1831 and asserting broad inherent powers of courts
to punish contempts independently of and contrary to Congressional
regulation of this power. Bridges _v._ California,[38] though dealing
with the power of State courts to punish contempts, in the face of the
due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, is significant for the
dictum of the majority that the contempt power of all courts, federal as
well as State, is limited by the guaranty of the First Amendment against
interference with freedom of speech or of the press.

Summary Punishment of Contempt; Misbehavior of Counsel

There have been three notable cases within the last half century raising
questions concerning the power of a trial judge to punish counsel
summarily for alleged misbehavior in the course of a trial. In _ex
parte_ Terry,[39] decided in 1888, Terry had been jailed by the United
States Circuit Court of California for assaulting in its presence a
United States marshal. The Supreme Court denied his petition for a writ
of habeas corpus. In Cooke _v._ United States,[40] however, decided in
1925, the Court remanded for further proceedings a judgment of the
United States Circuit Court of Texas sustaining the judgment of a United
States District judge sentencing to jail an attorney and his client for
presenting the judge a letter which impugned his impartiality with
respect to their case, still pending before him. Distinguishing the case
from that of Terry, Chief Justice Taft, speaking for the unanimous
Court, said: "The important distinction * * * is that this contempt was
not in open court. * * * To preserve order in the court