Difficulty Finding Employment Due to an Unclassified Misdemeanor Conviction

That's what I was referring to about the checking of certain boxes on the application. If they're desperate for people, they might allow an applicant the benefit of the doubt and/or process them through to the background and question them to see the specifics behind the check. I've worked with several awesome long term law enforcement folks who did things like participate in sit-ins in the 60's and things like that - they checked the box, but the explanation of the incidents quelled concerns and they ended up being model employees, advanced to supervisors, etc. But if they've got dozens (or hundreds) of applications with no naughty boxes checked, yep, I can see potentially problematic ones going right into the shredder.

If this was a civil contempt proceeding, even if it was classified as such by the court, it should not appear on your husband's record as a criminal conviction. I suggest that your husband have the court records reviewed by a lawyer who handles expungement matters, as if in fact this should not be abstracted as a misdemeanor it should be possible to clear it up with a motion to the court.