Tate v. Short

Petitioner accumulated fines of $425 on nine convictions in the Corporation Court of Houston, Texas, for traffic offenses. He was unable to pay the fines because of indigency1 and the Corporation Court, which otherwise has no jurisdiction to impose prison sentences,2 committed him to the municipal prison farm according to the provisions of a state statute and municipal ordinance3 which required that he remain there a suffi*397cient time to satisfy the fines at the rate of five dollars for each day; this required that he serve 85 days at the prison farm. After 21 days in custody, petitioner was…