Wade v. Carsley

GILLESPIE, Presiding Justice:

The principal question involved in this appeal is whether imprisonment of an indigent defendant for failure to pay a fine constitutes a deprivation of due process and equal protection of the law. We hold that it does not.

On a plea of guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disturbance in a public place in violation of Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated, Section 2090.5 (1956), appellant was sentenced to serve six months in jail and to pay a $500 fine, the maximum penalty under the statute. She was committed to the county jail. After she served six months in jail, appellant…