Does a court have any power to jail an individual who refuses to answer questions?

Code of Civil Procedure section 2034, subdivision (b)(1) authorizes a court to punish as a contempt the refusal to obey the court's discovery orders made under section 2034, subdivision (a). However, we have found but one reported decision where a court actually contemplated incarcerating an individual who refused to answer questions, and there, public interests were [184 Cal.App.3d 144] at stake. (Rosato v. Superior Court (1975) 51 Cal.App.3d 190, 124 Cal.Rptr. 427, finding inherent power in court to compel reporter to answer questions relating to violations of the court's orders in a criminal trial sealing a grand jury transcript.) Although the statutory language authorizes use of the contempt power to enforce civil discovery, the apparent rarity of that drastic sanction, though not controlling, does give us pause.