512 U.S. 821 (1994) Cited 1,385 times 2 Legal Analyses
Holding that a court's imposition of a fine is punitive if the contemnor has no opportunity to purge it through some action other than full payment once imposed
467 U.S. 310 (1984) Cited 471 times 4 Legal Analyses
Holding that party with burden of persuasion may prevail only if he can “place in the ultimate factfinder an abiding conviction that the truth of [his] factual contentions are ‘highly probable.’ ”
Holding that agreement entered into by lawyers after they had received a discharge to remain liable for discharged debts was unenforceable as reaffirmation process had not been observed
Holding that a district court abused its discretion when it fined a witness for failure to comply with a civil contempt order because the IRS's inability to schedule a hearing on short notice ultimately caused the finable delay, notwithstanding that the defendant's own delay in contacting the IRS created a foreseeable risk that the IRS could not accommodate him on short notice