8. Nazareno vs.

Barnes

FACTS:
1. Petitioner sent a letter-complaint to then President Marcos informing the latter about the
charges against respondent-judge.
2. When respondent judge obtained a copy of the letter-complaint, he instituted in his sala a charge
of indirect contempt of court against the petitioner.
ISSUE: Whether the contempt proceeding against the petitioner was properly initiated.
RULING: No. As a public servant, a judge should perform his duties in accordance with the dictates of his
conscience and the light that God has given him. A judge should never allow himself to be moved by pride,
prejudice, passion, or pettiness in the performance of his duties. He should always bear in mind that the
power of the court to punish for contempt should be exercised for purposes that are impersonal, because
that power is intended as a safeguard not for the judges as persons but for the functions that they exercise.