Opinion
2001-07310
Submitted June 11, 2002
August 12, 2002
In a juvenile delinquency proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 3, the appeal is from an order of fact-finding and disposition (one paper) of the Family Court, Suffolk County (Simeone, J.), entered July 25, 2001, which, upon the appellant's admission, found that she had committed an act which, if committed by an adult, would have constituted the crime of criminal contempt in the second degree, adjudged her to be a juvenile delinquent, and placed her on probation for a period of two years.
Arza R. Feldman, Hauppauge, N.Y. (Steven A. Feldman of counsel), for appellant.
Before: DAVID S. RITTER, J.P., SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, NANCY E. SMITH, THOMAS A. ADAMS, JJ.
ORDERED that the order of fact-finding and disposition is reversed, on the law, without costs or disbursements, and the proceeding is dismissed.
As in Matter of Asia H. ( 289 A.D.2d 404) and Matter of Jasmine A. ( 284 A.D.2d 452), the Family Court "bootstrapped" a PINS proceeding into a juvenile delinquency proceeding through the improper employment of its contempt power to punish the appellant for her failure to comply with one of its orders (see Matter of Edwin G., 296 A.D.2d 7 [1st Dept, May 16, 2002]; Matter of Naquan J., 284 A.D.2d 1). As this court has previously noted, such a practice is not permitted under the Family Court Act as it is presently structured (see Matter of Asia H., supra at 405; Matter of Jasmine A., supra at 453).
RITTER, J.P., FEUERSTEIN, SMITH and ADAMS, JJ., concur.