The PEOPLE v. Williams

The sole question raised by this appeal is whether imprisonment of an indigent defendant to satisfy his fine constitutes a denial of equal protection of the law under the rationale of Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 100 L. Ed. 891, 76 S. Ct. 585.

On August 16, 1967, defendant, Willie E. Williams, was convicted of theft of property not from the person and not exceeding $150 in value in a bench trial in the circuit court of Cook County. The court sentenced him to one year imprisonment in the county jail and imposed a fine of $500, a maximum sentence for this offense (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1967, ch.…