U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brenda Rhoades of Plano, Texas recently found a Chapter 7 Debtor in civil contempt and ordered her taken into custody and jailed by the U.S. Marshal for illegally interfering with the sale of her 42 acre ranch. The Debtor in the case is Dr. Elizabeth Rohr, a general-practice physician in Roanoke, Texas, who filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on October 5, 2004. Upon the U.S. Trustee's request, the case was converted to a Chapter 7 on May 26, 2005. The Debtor's actions constituting civil contempt stem from her failure to comply with the court's August 2nd Order authorizing the Chapter 7 Trustee to sell approximately 42 acres of real property in Denton County, Texas, which the Debtor jointly owned with her former husband and on which the Debtor resided. (Ms. Rohr claims the land is not part of the bankruptcy estate because she put the land into a trust for her children in 2003.) The Sale Order required the Debtor "not to interfere with the sale or transfer" of the property and to vacate the property by August 12th. Ms. Rohr failed to vacate the property, and Spectra Land, L.P., the purchaser of the property, filed a Motion for Contempt. At the August 31st hearing on the Contempt Motion, Ms. Rohr showed up late and walked out before the hearing ended. Ms. Rohr refused to recognize the authority of the bankruptcy Court or of the United States and stated that she is a sovereign who chooses not to contract with the Court and who is beyond the Court's authority. Ms. Rohr testified that she refuses to vacate the property and comply with the Sale Order, believes herself to be a sovereign, and believes that she is free to disregard any orders of the Court with which she disagrees. Nonetheless, the Court entered a Contempt Order ordering Ms. Rohr to vacate the property, prohibiting her from interfering with the Sale Order and authorizing the U.S. Marshal to enforce the order through a Writ of Possession. Ms. Rohr's response? She filed two separate lis pendenses on the property as well as a lien against the personal residence of the principle of Spectra. And still Ms. Rohr refused to vacate the property. While the Marshals were executing the Writ of Possession on 42 acres on September 23rd by removing Ms. Rohr's personal property, she filed an ex parte Petition and Affidavit for Writ of Re-Entry in a Denton County JP court stating that she had been "forcefully locked out of her home by party/parties unknown and for purposes unknown" without receiving "any form of due process for eviction." The JP court issued Ms. Rohr a Writ of Re-Entry, and a constable came to the ranch and threatened to arrest those on the property until the U.S. Marshal showed the constable the Federal Court Writ of Possession. On October 27th, Spectra's counsel filed a second Emergency for Contempt requesting Ms. Rohr be held in civil contempt for failing to comply with both the Sale Order and the original Contempt Order and further requesting that the Court cancel both lis pendenses and the lien on the personal residence of Spectra's principle. On November 8th, Judge Rhoades found Ms. Rohr in contempt of court and ordered the U. S. Marshal to take her into custody where she was to remain incarcerated until she removed the lis pendenses and dismissed the JP action. On November 15th, the U. S. Marshal brought Ms. Rohr back before the Court, at which time Judge Rhoades found that Ms. Rohr still had not purged herself of contempt and ordered her to remain incarcerated until she complies with the Court's orders. Ms. Rohr will go back before Judge Rhoades on November 29th to determine whether she should remain incarcerated on the contempt charges. She could be released sooner if she complies. Leslie