Opinion ID: 3065476
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Purgation Conditions

Text: [13] “Civil contempt is characterized by the court’s desire to compel obedience to a court order or to compensate the contemnor’s adversary for the injuries which result from the noncompliance.” Falstaff Brewing Corp., 702 F.2d at 778 (internal citations omitted). Given the remedial purpose of the sanction, a finding of contempt must be accompanied by conditions by which contempt may be purged, spelled out in either the original order or the contempt order. Moreover, although the district court generally must impose the minimum sanction necessary to secure compliance, see Whittaker Corp. v. Execuair Corp., 953 F.2d 510, 517 (9th Cir. 1992), the district court retains discretion to establish appropriate sanctions, see Richmark Corp. v. Timber Falling Consultants, 959 F.2d 1468, 1473 (9th Cir. 1992). [14] Here the district court expressly stated that the Brights would no longer be in contempt if they fully comply with the summonses, provide a definitive declaration that documents do not exist or furnish documentation corroborating their present inability to comply with the summonses. Because we have narrowed the scope of the enforcement order to exclude documents related to the two offshore credit card accounts not expressly named in the summonses — because they are not subject to the foregone conclusion exception — the Brights need not produce documents concerning those accounts in order to purge their contempt. The district court’s imposition of a $500 daily fine and payment of the government’s costs 3152 UNITED STATES v. BRIGHT was well within the range of appropriate sanctions to secure compliance with a tax summons.