[gamblor956]

No, they can hold you in contempt for up to 18 months in federal court, or indefinitely in many state courts.

OTOH, if you were to argue that it's not your device, or that you weren't the person that encrypted it, that's a very different situation.

[sjy]

This is incorrect. You can’t be held in contempt for failing to comply with an order you can’t comply with, for example due to a loss of memory. In this case the court did not believe that the defendant had forgotten the key.

[gamblor956]

Whether you actually have lost your memory is a factual question to be determined by a trier of fact. Generally, most triers of fact rule against the forgettor if forgetting benefits them.

OTOH, if a witness forgets, they would not be held in court, because there's no benefit to them forgetting, and so their loss of memory is believable.

[throwaway17_17]

Just to clarify, and your comment framed the apparent misunderstanding in the thread perfectly:

This ruling only says that the confinement period for contempt of court, where the court has order an individual to de-encrypt some data, is too long if it is more than 18 continuous months. This does not mean that after serving that sentence and upon subsequent release, that further refusal after another court order and hearing can not result in another sentence for contempt.