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What is a Show Cause Order?

Written by AskTheLawyers.com™

What is a Show Cause Order?

Written by AskTheLawyers.com™

AskTheLawyers™

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You may have seen the phrase "show cause order" in the news lately... but what does it mean? We asked our criminal defense attorney what was going on with the case. He said:

"The Judge in the Roger Stone case has ordered a “Show Cause” hearing on Thursday in response to a questionable photo Stone posted, edited and then deleted from his Instagram account. The photo in question was of his judge, Amy Berman Jackson, with what appeared to be a set of rifle crosshairs close to her face. Stone has denied they were crosshairs. But his attorneys took an almost unheard of step and filed an official apology with the court.

"Stone was ordered by Judge Jackson not to make statements about his case to the media near the federal courthouse in Washington DC. He now must “Show Cause” as to why the previous conditions regarding media contact and/or the conditions of his release should not be modified or revoked. In other words, Stone could be hit with a full gag order or potentially his bail could be revoked and himself taken into custody."

It's a term that might sound confusing at first, but makes sense. If you're issued a Show Cause order, you have to explain why the court should or should not take a certain action.

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