| Litigants: | Williams v. Illinois |
| Arguedate: | April 22 |
| Argueyear: | 1970 |
| Decidedate: | June 29 |
| Decideyear: | 1970 |
| Fullname: | Williams v. Illinois |
| Usvol: | 399 |
| Uspage: | 235 |
| Parallelcitations: | 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. |
| Majority: | Burger |
| Joinmajority: | 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 the Equal Protection Clause to convert that unpaid fine into jail time to extend a person's incarceration beyond a statutory maximum length.[1]
The syllabus of the case stated:
A companion case, Morris v. Schoonfield,[2] was "remanded for reconsideration in light of intervening Maryland legislation and decision in Williams".