732
Opinion of White, J.
duplicated those already in place by virtue of the criminal statutes. Aside from differences in the sanctions inflicted, the distinction between being punished for violation of the criminal laws and being punished for violation of the court orders, therefore, is simply this: Whereas in the former case "the entire population" is subject to prosecution, in the latter such authority extends only to "those particular persons whose legal obligations result from their earlier participation in proceedings before the court." Young, 481 U. S., at 800, n. 10. But the offenses that are to be sanctioned in either proceeding must be similar, since the contempt orders incorporated, in full or in part, the criminal code.7
7 Justice Scalia disputes this description of the Civil Protection Order (CPO). He questions whether the word " 'assault' " meant " 'assault under § 22-504,' " ante, at 700, n. 3, but defers to the contempt court's interpretation, and notes that the parties have not challenged this point. Ibid. He also disagrees that the reference to "threats" was to threats "that violate the District's criminal laws." Ante, at 702-703, n. 8. Indeed, given the context—a "domestic situation"—he finds this construction "highly artificial." Ibid. But that, too, is how the court applying the court order appears to have understood it. Responding to the very argument made here by Justice Scalia—namely that the "context of domestic violence" somehow stretched the meaning of "threat," Tr. in Nos. IF-630-87, IF- 631-87 (Aug. 8, 1988), p. 315—the court asserted that "in a criminal case, the defendant is entitled to more specific notice of the nature of the charge." Id., at 316. Significantly, in acquitting Foster with respect to the threat allegedly made on November 12, 1987, the court stated that it was "not satisfied if those words as such, in spite of the context of this dispute, constitutes a legal threat." Ibid. (emphasis added). For the same reason that the court concluded that the word "assault" referred to the District's criminal provisions, it decided that the CPO's reference to "threats" was to "legal" threats—i. e., threats as defined by the law. Moreover, I note that the Government's presentation of this case coincides with this view. See Brief for United States 26 (describing the order not to "assault or in any manner threaten" as "direct[ing] Foster . . . to refrain from engaging in criminal conduct").
In any event, even assuming that the prohibition in the court order referred to threats other than those already outlawed, that should not change the outcome of this case. The offense prohibited in the CPO—to threaten "in any manner"—at the very least is "an incident and part of,"
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