>And that's the problem with contempt-of-court. If you can be held indefinitely without being charged with anything, that's a corruption of the legal process. S

>And that's the problem with contempt-of-court. If you can be held indefinitely without being charged with anything, that's a corruption of the legal process. Someone being held in that manner for long enough will likely do anything to get out of that situation, even confess to a crime that carries a sentence of a defined length, because knowing you'll be out in 10 years (or whatever) might be better than being held indefinitely. Yeah, as I said in my original post, I agree with this. There needs to be a limit on contempt-of-court. The flip side, however, is that someone who does something that would carry a large prison sentence would be incentivized to violate orders, spend one year waiting out contempt charges, get charged with obstruction and sentenced to 3-5 years, making a total of 4-6 years jail time. That could be a big win for the criminal if complying with the government's order would allow them to prove a crime that carries a much stiffer sentence.