Potter Stewart

“ It is a procedure which, in this context, is at least as fair as a Rule 42 (b) proceeding. The petitioner, represented by counsel, was accorded an additional chance to purge himself of contempt; he and his counsel were accorded full opportunity to offer any explanation they might have had in extenuation of the contempt-to inform the 'sentencing judge of all the facts.' And finally, there is no reason to assume that a sentence imposed for obduracy before a grand jury is likely to be more severe in a Rule 42 (a) proceeding than one imposed after a proceeding under Rule 42 (b) . ”

“ It is the court's process which summons the witness to attend and give testimony, and it is the court which must compel a witness to testify, if, after appearing, he refuses to do so.↑ 'When upon his return to the grand jury room the petitioner again refused to answer the grand jury's questions, now in direct disobedience of the court's order, he was for the first time guilty of contempt. ”

“ But today Brown is overturned, and the question it 'resolved' is now answered in the opposite way.
The particular question at issue here is of limited importance. But in this area the Court's duty is important, involving as it does the responsibility for clear and consistent guidance to the federal judiciary in the application of ground rules of our own making. ”