A Matter of Contempt?

If things weren't serious enough before, they are now, as a legal challenge has been brought to Governor Ned Lamont (D-CT)'s authority. 

Mr. Lindy Urso, a Greenwich-based attorney, has filed suit against the governor.  (1)  In the lawsuit, the attorney alleges that (regarding executive orders of the governor) several of his civil rights have been violated, including rights to free assembly and free speech.  To this, Urso is asking a federal court to declare the relevant orders unconstitutional, and thereby overturn them.  

I won't go into the merits of the case here; that is for other legal scholars to debate.  Instead, I will focus on the response (or lack thereof, as you will see) of Governor Lamont.  

A search of legal documents regarding this case ("Urso v. Lamont", as presented to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut) (2) has led me to a web resource known as "PacerMonitor" (a system that keeps track of events associated with legal actions).  According to the site, the most recent action in this lawsuit was the issuing (on 4/20) of a summons to the governor.  This summons explains that the governor must answer the charges against him.

Further examining the matter, I have found this information from the "WiseGeek" web site:

"A civil summons is an order of the court...the summons will indicate how long the recipient has to respond.  Failure to respond within the given time period may cause a default judgment to be entered against the recipient".  (3)

Governor Lamont has not yet replied to the summons issued to him, nor made any peep about the case in the press.  I myself have written him, asking why he has not answered the legal challenge; it appears my question has been ignored.  (note 1)

Knowing this, what might happen in the case of Urso v Lamont? Will the governor respond, or will he effectively ignore the Court's order? It is my feeling that the latter will occur.  If so, what if any actions can be taken against the defense? 

As previously explained, the Court could issue what is called a "summary judgment" against the governor.  This would result in the case being decided for the plaintiff, and the related executive orders overturned.  (4)  It is also possible that Lamont could be found in "contempt of court", meaning that he has disobeyed or disrespected a lawful order of the Court.  The usual penalty for being "in contempt" is a period of incarceration, and/or a significant fine.  (5) 

So....it appears that things are getting very interesting in the "Constitution State".  I'll keep you informed as to what happens in this case.  

Note 1: As of May 2, we will be in the twelfth day of the twenty-one days that the Court has allotted for response.  (2)

Sources:

1. Friedmann, Meghan. "Attorney Suing Lamont: Order To Wear Masks ‘Pushed Me Over The Edge’". Connecticut Post, 2020, https://www.ctpost.com/news/coronavirus/article/Citing-individual-freedoms-Stamford-attorney-15210247.php. Accessed 1 May 2020.

2. "Urso V. Lamont (3:20-Cv-00529), Connecticut District Court". Pacermonitor.Com, 2020, https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/33630233/Urso_v_Lamont. Accessed 1 May 2020.

3. "How Do I Respond To A Civil Summons? (With Pictures)". Wisegeek, 2020, https://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-respond-to-a-civil-summons.htm#. Accessed 1 May 2020.

4. Personal knowledge.  

5. "Contempt Of Court". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_court. Accessed 1 May 2020.