Existing law generally empowers a court to punish for acts of contempt, including authorizing a court to direct the incarceration of a defendant until he or she complies with the court’s order. Existing law provides exceptions to this general rule by providing that (1) a court may not imprison a victim of sexual assault for contempt when the contempt consists of refusing to testify concerning that sexual assault; and (2) in a finding of contempt for a victim of domestic violence who refuses to testify, the court shall not incarcerate the victim, but may require the victim to attend a domestic violence program for victims or perform appropriate community service, provided that in a subsequent finding of contempt for refusing to testify arising out of the same case, the court shall have the option of incarceration.

This bill would revise the above provisions to provide, instead, that in a finding of contempt for a victim of a sexual assault or domestic violence crime for refusing to testify concerning that sexual assault or domestic violence crime, the court may not imprison the victim of the sexual assault or domestic violence crime.