Cases | Sweeney v. Lotz, 787 A.2d 449 (Pa.Commw. Ct. 2001) | 2018
The defendant was convicted of third-degree homicide and sentenced, among other things, to pay restitution in the amount of $2,008.50. Thereafter, he was incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Mercer (SCI/Mercer). Pursuant to the Sentencing Code, the Clerk of Courts of the trial court requested that SCI/Mercer withhold 20 percent of the defendant’s prison account, and SCI/Mercer complied. The defendant filed a petition for a stay of execution with the trial court, arguing that the Sentencing Code was unconstitutional as it denied him the right to equal protection. The court disagreed, holding that the legislative requirement in the Sentencing Code for an inmate to pay court-ordered restitution addresses the Commonwealth’s rational and legitimate interest in the rehabilitation of criminals and the compensation of victims of crime. Furthermore, the court rejected the defendant’s equal protection challenge, noting that the $300 exemption claim for judgment debtors applies only to civil judgments and other liens, and that it exists to allow a judgment debtor to afford the necessities of life, which is a concern that does not apply to an inmate who must be provided with the necessities of life while confined in a penal institution.