What is the current state of the law on spitting in court?

Spitting is not simply sanctionablewhen committed by a party or an attorney. Spitting on someone in court constitutes criminal contempt. This court once witnessed a defendant spit on an attorney a few moments after the defendant was sentenced to 1 1/2 3 years in jail. In response, the sentencing judgefor whom this court clerked at the timeresentenced the defendant consecutively to 2 4 years' and 30 days' incarceration for criminal contempt summarily imposed. With that, the defendant was sentenced to a top of 13 months in jail for spitting on a lawyer. (See People v. Graham, 228 AD2d 299, 299-300 [1st Dept 1996, mem] [dismissing without comment objection to resentence and to conviction and sentence for criminal contempt].)

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Other jurisdictions also take spitting seriously. In Knox v. Municipal Ct. of Des Moines (185 NW2d 705 [Iowa, 1971]), the court affirmed a sentence of six months in jail for criminal contempt, imposed after a plenary hearing, for spitting on a judge in court.