From Riley. See his comments below. Noteworthy case from Tennessee Court of Appeals concerning criminal contempt and harassment over amateur radio. 73,Rick - K5UR
-----Original Message----- From: RILEY HOLLINGSWORTH <rilepatholling@comcast.net> To: Rick Roderick <K5UR@arrl.org> Sent: Mon, Jun 15, 2020 3:34 pm Subject: Per e mail--the Tennessee Ct of Appeals case Here's an excerpt, and the decision is attached. This stems from the 7200/3860 case and while not binding of course in other states, it is a guide and gives actions in other states more ammunition--especially when it comes to repeater deliberate interference. Again, the enforcement and prosecution of a valid ex parte order does not conflict with the federal statutes regulating radio activity. As the Florida appellate court aptly noted under similar circumstances, “In prosecuting [Respondent] the [trial court] was not seeking to regulate the air waves, rather it was seeking to punish him for his criminal conduct.” Menefee, 980 So.2d at 571. Respondent argues that the FCC’s prohibition against “communications intended to facilitate a criminal act; . . . [or] obscene or indecent words or language” restricts any state court from having jurisdiction to prosecute such actions. See 47 C.F.R. § 97.113(a)(4). We disagree with this conclusory assumption. Respondent was not found in criminal contempt for using “obscene or indecent words” on amateur radio. Rather, he was found in contempt for simply communicating with Petitioner, irrespective of the language he used. On this issue, we rely on analysis in Menefee, 980 So.2d at 573–74. In Menefee, the Florida District Court of Appeals stated, “there is nothing contained within the [Federal Communications] Act or its implementing regulations that suggests that states may not take action to charge a[n] [amateur] radio operator criminally for conduct that would constitute a crime.” Id. at 573. For these reasons, we find that the trial court’s ex parte order is not preempted by - 9 - federal law. Therefore, the trial court had jurisdiction to find Respondent in criminal contempt of court when Respondent violated the ex parte order by contacting Petitioner on amateur radio.