SANCTION
sanction (sangk-sh<<schwa>>n), n.1. Official approval or authorization <the committee gave
sanction to the proposal>. Cf. RATIFICATION(1).2. A penalty or coercive measure that results
from failure to comply with a law, rule, or order <a sanction for discovery abuse>. Cf.
DISCIPLINE. [Cases: Costs 2; Federal Civil Procedure 1278, 2750; Pretrial Procedure 44.
C.J.S. Costs §§ 2–3, 8–9; Discovery§ 31.]
“Without adequate sanctions the procedure for discovery would often be ineffectual. Under
Rule 37 [of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure], … any party or person who seeks to evade or
thwart full and candid discovery incurs the risk of serious consequences, which may involve
imprisonment for contempt of court, an order that designated facts be taken to be established, an
order refusing the delinquent party the right to support or oppose designated claims or defenses,
striking out pleadings or parts of pleadings, rendering judgment by default, dismissal of the action
or a claim therein, or assessment of expenses and attorney’s fees. Sanctions are intended to prompt
a party to respond.” 8A Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure § 2281, at
594–95 (2d ed. 1994).
criminal sanction.A sanction attached to a criminal conviction, such as a fine or restitution.
— Also termed penal sanction.
“A criminal sanction … is a legally authorized post-conviction deprivation suffered by a
human being through governmental action. By using the words ‘post-conviction’ in that definition,
criminal sanctions are thus limited to those imposed upon defendants in criminal proceedings who,
by reason or in consequence of a judgment entered upon a verdict of guilty found by a jury, or
judge sitting without a jury (the latter having been legally waived), or upon a plea of guilty, or a
plea of nolo contendere, stand convicted.” A Treatise on the Law of Crimes § 2.00, at 66 (Marian
Quinn Barnes ed., 7th ed. 1967).
death-penalty sanction.Civil procedure. A court’s order dismissing the suit or entering a
default judgment in favor of the plaintiff because of extreme discovery abuses by a party or
because of a party’s action or inaction that shows an unwillingness to participate in the case. •
Such a sanction is rarely ordered, and is usu. preceded by orders of lesser sanctions that have not
been complied with or that have not remedied the problem. — Often shortened to death penalty.
[Cases: Federal Civil Procedure 1278; Pretrial Procedure 46. C.J.S. Discovery § 31.]
shame sanction.A criminal sanction designed to stigmatize or disgrace a convicted offender,
and often to alert the public about the offender’s conviction. • A shame sanction usu. publicly
associates the offender with the crime that he or she committed. An example is being required to
post a sign in one’s yard stating, “Convicted Child Molester Lives Here.” — Also termed shame
sentence; shaming sanction; shaming sentence; scarlet-letter punishment; scarlet-letter sentence.
3.Int’l law. An economic or military coercive measure taken by one or more countries toward
another to force it to comply with international law <U.N. sanctions against a renegade nation>.
sanction,vb.1. To approve, authorize, or support <the court will sanction the trust disposition
if it is not against public policy>.2. To penalize by imposing a sanction <the court sanctioned the
attorney for violating the gag order>. [Blacks Law 8th]