The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is set to review a Superior Court ruling that it is illegal for judges to impose suspended sentences for civil contempt.

In a unanimous published opinion issued May 8 in Thompson v. Thompson, a three-judge panel of the Superior Court reversed a Clarion County trial judge's order that a mother would have to serve a six-month jail sentence if she fell behind on monthly payments toward child support arrears.

“The law is clear that an indefinitely suspended sentence is not a sentencing alternative and is illegal,” Judge Jacqueline Shogan wrote for the court, citing the Superior Court's 2004 ruling in Commonwealth v. Joseph. “Although Joseph dealt with sentencing in a criminal matter, we conclude that its rationale is instructive in our review of a sentence imposed for civil contempt.”