Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

The court will not grant such a motion. People are not sent to prison [no debtor's prison] for failing to pay a judgment; yo need to do something else to be in contempt of court.

Contempt of court is only appropriate for failures to pay child support or spousal support. If it is a regular civil money judgment, contempt cannot be used for enforcement. �A person may not be imprisoned in a civil action for debt or tort, or in peacetime for a militia fine.� (Cal. Const. Art. I � 10.)

Because of this constitutional prohibition, money judgments are not enforceable through contempt. �It goes without saying that such money judgments in civil actions for debt cannot be enforced by contempt.� (Crider v. Superior Court (3rd Dist. 1993) 15 Cal. App. 4th 227, 232.)

When you go to the citation hearing, ask the court to appoint the public defender to represent you, and do not plead to the contempt citation. If you run into problems, send me a private e-mail.