Short answer. No. A direct contempt order cannot be appealed. Your remedy is a petition for certiorari or prohibition in a higher court. Execution is suspended while that petition is pending only if you file a bond, fixed by the court that held you in contempt, promising to submit to the judgment if you lose.
What the law says
The person adjudged in direct contempt by any court may not appeal therefrom, but may avail himself of the remedies of certiorari or prohibition.
Rule 71, Section 2 — Remedy therefrom. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The execution of the judgment shall be suspended pending resolution of such petition, provided such person files a bond fixed by the court which rendered the judgment and conditioned that he will abide by and perform the judgment should the petition be decided against him.
Rule 71, Section 2 — Remedy therefrom. Read the full provision →
Why there is no appeal
Direct contempt happens in the presence of the court — disrespect, refusal to answer, disruptive conduct — and the judge punishes it summarily, on the spot. Because the finding and the penalty are made and imposed at once, the rule does not give the contemnor the ordinary right of appeal that follows a regular trial. Section 2 states this plainly: a person adjudged in direct contempt may not appeal from that adjudication.
What you can do instead
The section substitutes a narrower remedy: a petition for certiorari or prohibition filed with a higher court. These are special civil actions, not appeals, and they succeed only by showing the contempt order was issued without or in excess of jurisdiction, or with grave abuse of discretion — not simply that the judge was mistaken about the facts. That narrower standard means a contemnor who merely disagrees with how the judge weighed the circumstances, without pointing to a jurisdictional defect or a grave abuse, is unlikely to succeed on certiorari or prohibition.
Staying out of jail while you litigate
Filing the petition does not automatically stop the sentence. Section 2 requires a bond, fixed by the very court that punished you, and conditioned on your submitting to the contempt judgment if the higher court rules against you. Only once that bond is posted is execution of the contempt order suspended pending the outcome of your petition, so the practical first move after filing is asking the contempt court to fix the bond amount without delay.
What happens if you lose the petition, or never post the bond
The bond is conditioned on abiding by and performing the judgment if the petition is decided against the contemnor, so losing the certiorari or prohibition case means the original contempt penalty simply takes effect, with the bond standing behind that outcome. And because suspension of execution depends on filing the bond in the first place, a contemnor who does not post it stays subject to the contempt order — including continued detention — while the petition is still pending before the higher court.