Williams v. Illinois

Williams v. Illinois
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided June 29, 1970
Full case name	Williams v. Illinois
Citations	399 U.S. 235 ( more ) 90 S. Ct. 2018; 26 L. Ed. 2d 586
Holding
If a person cannot afford to pay a fine, it violates equal protection to convert that unpaid fines into jail time to extend a person's incarceration beyond a statutory maximum length.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices Hugo Black  · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II  · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart  · Byron White Thurgood Marshall  · Harry Blackmun
Case opinions
Majority	Burger, joined by Black, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall, Blackmun
Concurrence	Harlan

Williams v. Illinois, 399 U.S. 235 (1970), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that, if a person cannot afford to pay a fine, it violates equal protection to convert that unpaid fine into jail time to extend a person's incarceration beyond a statutory maximum length. ^[1]

See also

• Bearden v. Georgia
• Tate v. Short

References

1. Williams v. Illinois, 399 U.S. 235 (1970).

External links

• Text of Williams v. Illinois, 399 U.S. 235(1970) is available from:   Cornell    CourtListener    Findlaw    Justia    Library of Congress    Oyez (oral argument audio)