New York Court of Appeals
State of New York, Appellant v. Unique Ideas, Inc., Respondents
May 11, 197844 N.Y.2d 345
Summary
The Court held that a civil contempt fine under Judiciary Law § 773 must be compensatory, limited to the amount needed to indemnify the actual losses of defrauded subscribers, and therefore set the fine at $209,000 rather than multiplying $250 by each mailing. The Court answered the certified question negatively, rejecting the Appellate Division’s method of calculating the fine based on the number of bulk mailings, and affirmed the modified order.