§ 15-320 — Enforcement of decrees.

(a) For the purpose of executing a decree, or compelling obedience to it, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, in addition to the other procedures provided for by this chapter and Chapter 5 of Title 16 , may:

(1) issue an attachment against the person of the defendant;

(2) order an immediate sequestration of his real and personal estate, or such part thereof as may be necessary to satisfy the decree; or

(3) by order and injunction, cause the possession of the estate and effects whereof the possession or a sale is decreed to be delivered to the complainant, or otherwise, according to the tenor and import of the decree and as the nature of the case requires.

(b) When a defendant is arrested and brought into court upon any process of contempt issued to compel the performance of a decree, the court may, upon motion, order:

(1) the defendant to stand committed; or

(2) his estates and effects to be sequestrated and payment made, as directed by subsection (a) of this section; or

(3) possession of his estate and effects to be delivered by order and injunction, as directed by subsection (a) of this section —

(c) Where a decree only directs the payment of money, the defendant may not be imprisoned except in those cases especially provided for.

Legislative History

Dec. 23, 1963, 77 Stat. 528, Pub. L. 88-241, § 1; July 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 553, Pub. L. 91-358, title I, § 144(7)