We can certainly understand William Clark's frustration.
He was asking an Albany County Family Court Judge to reduce a child support order and had a pretty good argument. At the time of the request, Clark was incarcerated in a Saratoga County jail and was unable to pay.
Unfortunately, Clark may have allowed his emotions to get the better of him.
During the course of a hearing which had been conducted telephonically, Mr. Clark made the following statement to the Support Magistrate (SM):
"I don't care what you do at this point. You can take and rub salt in your ass for all I care, all right? Because this is ridiculous. You Courts are ridiculous ... you people are a joke ... Your courts are a joke. It's a joke. The whole system is a joke. It's a joke. So I don't care what you do at this point. I don't care if you terminate the petition, whatever, suspend it, you'll never get another dime out of me regardless. So I don't care what you do. Have a nice day."
Clark then abruptly terminated the call.
In response, the SM took Clark's words literally and dismissed the petition and recommended that a contempt hearing be held (and that an appropriate punishment ensue) as a result of the outburst.
When that hearing was later held, Clark initially apologized for his behavior but proceeded to criticize the SM. That lapse eventually led to Clark being found guilty of criminal contempt and his receiving a sentence of 30 days to be served in the Albany County Correctional Facility.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Third Department, affirmed citing Clark's "contemptuous statements," his verbal attack of the SM, and, Clark's failure to unequivocally apologize for his misconduct.
When dealing with an SM, when you say you're sorry, you better mean it!
SWAK!
For a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Clark v. Zwack