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moniss

(9,036 posts)
2. Here is a little blurb that will
Wed Mar 25, 2026, 05:52 PM
16 hrs ago

answer some questions people may have about civil versus criminal contempt:

"Because compliance is the point, civil contempt confinement can theoretically last indefinitely. The Federal Judicial Center describes civil contempt incarceration as potentially “of indefinite duration” because it continues for as long as the person refuses to act."

"The defining feature of civil contempt is the purge condition. Every civil contempt order must include a specific action you can take to end your confinement. Legal scholars describe this by saying “the key to the cell is in the contemnor’s own pocket,” meaning you’ll be released the moment you do what the court requires. If you’re jailed for withholding financial records, handing over those records opens the door. If you’re behind on support payments, paying the arrears ends the confinement. The jail time isn’t a set number of days; it lasts until you comply or until the court decides continued confinement has lost its coercive effect."

And for criminal contempt:

"Criminal contempt looks and feels more like a traditional criminal prosecution. Instead of trying to make you comply with a future obligation, the court punishes you for something you already did. A judge might impose criminal contempt for repeatedly disrupting proceedings, threatening a witness, or willfully defying an injunction after being warned. The sentence is a fixed number of days or months, and you serve it regardless of whether you later apologize or comply."

https://legalclarity.org/do-you-go-to-jail-for-contempt-of-court-civil-vs-criminal/

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