Does a default judgment arising from failure to comply with discovery constitute mootness?

We fully recognize the problems created if parties are permitted to refuse to comply with court orders with which they disagree, and we endorse the "basic proposition that all orders and judgments of courts must be complied with promptly." Maness v. Meyers, 419 U.S. 449, 458, 95 S.Ct. 584, 591, 42 L.Ed.2d 574 (1975) ("If a person to whom a court directs an order believes that order is incorrect the remedy is to appeal, but absent a stay, he must comply promptly with the order pending appeal. Persons who make private determinations of the law and refuse to obey an order generally risk criminal contempt even if the order is ultimately ruled incorrect.") This suggests the possibility that a claim of mootness arising from a default judgment entered for failure to comply with discovery might be treated differently from mootness arising from the conclusion of a trial on the merits. We reject this possibility for two reasons.

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We find the treatment of civil contempt proceedings themselves to be a useful analogy. Unlike criminal contempt, in civil contempt, if the contemnor's actions subsequently are vindicated, the civil contempt must be vacated absent an opportunity for effective review of the order before it was violated. United States v. Mine Workers, 330 U.S. 258, 67 S.Ct. 677, 91 L.Ed. 884 (1947). Thus, if, for example, a defendant refuses to comply with a discovery order because he is asserting a right to arbitration and requesting a stay of judicial proceedings pending review, and that refusal is the basis of a default judgment being entered against him, a judicial determination that the defendant was indeed entitled to proceed to arbitration may serve to invalidate the default judgment--although lesser sanctions would not be affected. This obviously requires the opportunity for appellate review of the refusal to grant the motion to compel arbitration. Here, too, even though the refusal to comply with the discovery order was based on an erroneous fifth amendment claim, appellant is entitled to an appellate determination of the arbitrability question, and that appellate review may not be mooted by virtue of sanctions imposed by the district court.