In the 1953 case of Sacher v. Association of the Bar of the City of New York, George W. Crockett Jr., Carol Weiss King, Abraham J. Isserman and others were disbarred from practicing law in New York due to their conduct during a previous trial (the Dennis case). The lawyers had been accused by Judge Harold Medina for contemptuous behavior during this trial which involved charges against leaders of the American Communist Party under the Smith Act. They appealed their disbarment on grounds that they had not received fair hearings and that there was bias in their proceedings because some members who participated in disciplinary proceedings were also part of committees advocating for harsher punishments for communists or communist sympathizers. The Supreme Court ruled against them with Justice Felix Frankfurter writing that while it is important to ensure fairness and impartiality in such cases, mere membership or affiliation with an organization does not necessarily mean bias or prejudice exists. He further noted that if every judge who has expressed an opinion on legal matters could be disqualified based on potential bias then no judges would be left to hear any cases.

In the dissenting opinion for Sacher v. Association of the Bar of The City Of New York, Justice Frankfurter argued that a judge should not be able to punish contemptuous behavior in court without first allowing a jury trial if requested by the accused party. He believed this was necessary to maintain fairness and impartiality within the judicial system. Furthermore, he expressed concern about judges having too much power over those who appear before them in court, potentially leading to abuses of authority or personal vendettas influencing decisions on contempt charges. He also pointed out that there were already established procedures for dealing with disruptive or disrespectful behavior in court which did not involve bypassing an individual's right to a jury trial.