civil contempt of court and jail ?

[spinner]

Hi Socrat,
my ex filed a contempt motion on me (civil) and we are going to the evidentiary hearing in March.
The contempt is for parenting time issue where my ex says that I took our kid on vacation while it was her parenting time (I am the NCP)

My attorney for the 2nd time today told me that IF i am held in contempt I can be looking at 90 days jail sentense that would be stayed pending the purge. Purge would mostlikely be that I can't take kid on vacation without 30 days writen notice to the ex (CP).

Anyway, I question his truth. Is this true? I thought on civil contempt you had to do a purge but I doubt that the sentense for not purging would be 90 days jail.

[socrateaser]

>My attorney for the 2nd time today told me that IF i am held
>in contempt I can be looking at 90 days jail sentense that
>would be stayed pending the purge. Purge would mostlikely be
>that I can't take kid on vacation without 30 days writen
>notice to the ex (CP).

There is no "sentence" for civil contempt. There is a remedy. The court cannot sentence you to jail for a specified time, on a civil contempt charge. Rather the court must order your incarceration in a manner that your actions to purge the contempt, cut short the incarceration.

Since what you have done cannot be purged while sitting in a jail cell, the court cannot lawfully jail you.

However, if the court finds you in contempt "beyond all reasonable doubt," then it can sentence you to a fixed time in jail, and there will be no purging it (criminal contempt).

I'd need specific facts to comment further. Contempt is a big deal. I doubt that your attorney is intentionally misleading you. You could be misunderstanding the circumstances and the charges against you.