I'm not a lawyer but the powers of Federal court are very broad when it comes to contempt: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/401 https://www.law.corne

I'm not a lawyer but the powers of Federal court are very broad when it comes to contempt: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/401 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/401 http://www.bafirm.com/publication/federal-contempt-of-court/ http://www.bafirm.com/publication/federal-contempt-of-court/ From the law: "A court of the United States shall have power to punish by fine or imprisonment, or both, at its discretion [contempt of court]" From the article: - "While § 401 specifies neither the minimum nor maximum penalty that may be imposed, it does prohibit a federal judge from legally imposing both a fine and a sentence of imprisonment." - "Although there is no statutory maximum limit regulating the amount of time a contemnor can be ordered to spend in confinement, the requirement that a jury trial be granted in criminal contempt cases involving sentences over six months in jail acts as a check on this power." - "In turn, Section 2X5.1 states that the court should apply “the most analogous offense guideline.” As a result, a court will be required to make a highly fact-specific inquiry when determining the appropriate punitive sentence. As an example, courts have equated the refusal of a witness to testify with all of the following: Obstruction of Justice; Misprison of Felony; and Failure to Appear by Material Witness." While the powers of the court aren't unlimited, they could certainly damage Apple to force it to comply, since there's no hard limit on the penalties that can be imposed and Apple continually refusing to comply could justify harsher and harsher penalties.