Boyd v. Commonwealth, 831 A.2d 779 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2003)

Cases | Boyd v. Commonwealth, 831 A.2d 779 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2003) | 2018

The defendant sought an order from the court that the Department of Corrections (DOC) cease and desist from deducting money from his prison account for restitution and to return all money previously deducted from his prison account for such purposes. The defendant argued that the DOC’s deduction of money from his inmate account without a court order authorizing it to do so violated his due process rights and the Pennsylvania Constitution’s separation of powers clause. The court dismissed the defendant’s mandamus petition, concluding that the DOC was authorized to make monetary deductions from an inmate’s personal account for the purposes of collecting restitution, which was imposed by the sentencing court.