Background Re: Williams v. Illinois

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- caad9b22-ba92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b

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Press Releases, Volume 6. Background Re: Williams v. Illinois, 1970. caad9b22-ba92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/97f452ec-04db-4436-a3c8-b1a994916c88/background-re-williams-v-illinois. Accessed November 23, 2025.

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egal ‘efense
PRESS RELEASE

fund

President
Hon. Francis E. Rivers

Director-Counsel
Jack Greenberg

Director, Public Relations NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC
Jesse DeVore, Jr. 10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 * JUdson 6-8397 seeiclae Ss NIGHT NUMBER 212-749-8487

June 4, 1970

BACKGROUND

Re: Williams v. Illinois

The case of Williams v. Illinois raises basic
the right of indigents before the courts.

questions conceming

Willie E. Williams was arrested in June, 1967 for stealing
credit cards and checks worthnot more than $150.00. In September of
1967 Williams was found guilty by the Circuit Court of Cook County
and sentenced to pay a fine of $500.00, court costs of five dollars,
and spend

",.After

committed

one year in the Cook County Jail, with the added proviso
the expiration of said term of imprisonment, stand
in said County Jail until said fine and costs shall have

been paid

according
or until said defendant shall have been discharged
to law."

Attorneys for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
(LDF), maintain that the "Illinois statutes which authorize a pauper's
imprisonment in excess of the maximum period otherwise set by
law, at the rate of five dollars per day for payment of fine and
costs, despite the fact that he is willing and able to pay them
if given the opportunity, violate the Equal Protection Clause of the
14th Amendment."

LDF attorneys maintain further that it is plain from the
Opinion of the Supreme Court in appellant's case, and prior Illinois
decisions, that the Supreme Court of Illinois regards the incarce-
ration of a defendant who cannot pay a fine or costs as a punitive
exaction by the state which is considered the equivalent of the
fine or costs and thus violates the Equal Protection Clause.

The whole idea of serving time to pay a fine, when defendant
is willing to pay if not imprisoned, is repugnant to our society.
Imprisonment deprives one of family and friends and creates
additional hardships since most penal institutions are overcrowded,
understaffed and provide little if any recreational or rehabilitative
outlets for inmates.

=30=

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Background Re: Williams v. Illinois

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