How long can a person be incarcerated for civil contempt?

Punishment for Civil Contempt normally is incarceration
until the offending person agrees to perform the act which he has previously refused to
do. If one were under Court Order to pay child support; he can be incarcerated until
such time as he does so. Judges are given wide latitude in determining the appropriate
punishment, but it must be commensurate with the level of the offense. When I practiced
law, I was once fined $25.00 for being late to Court; and on another occasion, a Judge
sentenced a Physician to thirty minutes jail time because he was thirty minutes late to
Court. The Judge's position was without witnesses and attorney's present, the Court
cannot perform its work. Had he fined me a thousand dollars, or sentenced me to thirty
days in jail, that easily is not commensurate with the offense.  Some states have
statutes that prescribe maximum sentences; but they are rarely more than $100.00 or ten
days in Jail, again dependent upon the severity of the offense.