Can You Just Ignore the Subpoena? (and What Happens If You Do?)
There is a good chance that if you follow the news in the coming year, you will hear the word “subpoena” quite often. It also seems likely that we will hear a lot about people ignoring subpoenas and refusing to comply, which leads to the obvious question: Can you get away with this?
In television shows, subpoenas are often seen as magical documents that open doors, get people to testify, and otherwise make things happen. And this is actually not far from real life: whether you are subpoenaed to testify ( subpoena ) or to provide material evidence such as documents ( subpoena ), your consent is a legal requirement. However, paying taxes is also a legal requirement and people can skip this for years.
So can you ignore the subpoena? Of course, of course you can – to ignore the subpoena, you just need to do nothing. A better question to ask is: what happens if you ignore the subpoena? Because it all comes down to enforcement or lack thereof.
How to avoid a subpoena
Before it gets to the point of ignoring or running away from a subpoena, people may try to avoid it entirely. First, you can try to avoid serving a subpoena – a subpoena usually has to be served on the summoned person in person. If you know that a subpoena has been issued, you can try to avoid service to avoid compliance. It is actually legal, but the court (or Congress) may eventually order the issuance of a subpoena in other ways, such as by public notice or service of documents on a substitute, such as another member of your family (such as your spouse). ).
You can also get your lawyers involved to try to “drop” the subpoena. This is a legal motion claiming that the subpoena was erroneous or issued incorrectly and at least it gives you some time as you can legally ignore the subpoena until the motion is accepted. Depending on the complexity of the court case and court schedule, this can take anywhere from a few days to several months, and even a subpoena can be cancelled.
Despise
If your attempts to circumvent the subpoena are unsuccessful and you simply ignore it, the consequences are reduced to enforcement. In most court cases, if you ignore a subpoena, the judge will find you disrespectful and may issue a punitive fine or even send officers to arrest you and put you in jail, where they can keep you until they decide to release you. or you decide to obey the subpoena.
If the agenda comes from Congress, it’s a little less direct. The particular committee that subpoenaed you first issues a contempt charge, which then must be voted on by the entire Congress. If passed, Congress can either refer the case to the Justice Department, which will then decide whether it will prosecute or not. The advantage is the resources and reach of the executive branch, but the disadvantage is that the Attorney General will not sign it. Alternatively, Congress may seek a civil judgment and obtain a court order (known as civil enforcement). However, this is a slow process, and you have many options to make it even slower.
Formally, Congress can arrest you, but it hasn’t done so in a very long time—since 1935, to be exact .
If found guilty of contempt of Congress, you can be fined between $100 and $1,000 and jailed for up to a year. Penalties for waiving a subpoena vary by jurisdiction and by the presiding judge. Whether it’s worth the risk depends largely on your individual situation and the reasons you’re resisting being sued. Your best-case scenario is a lot of legal fees, paperwork, and wasted time. Your worst-case scenario is jail time and a generous fine. Whether this is better than consent is entirely up to you.