Case Name: Henry Lee JOHNSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1986-07-09
Citations: 495 So. 2d 188
Docket Number: No. 85-2166
Parties: Henry Lee JOHNSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: GRIMES, A.C.J., and SANDERLIN, J., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 495
Pages: 188–189

Head Matter:
Henry Lee JOHNSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 85-2166.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.
July 9, 1986.
On Motion for Rehearing Oct. 3, 1986.
James Marion Moorman, Public Defender and Paul C. Helm, Asst. Public Defender, Bartow, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee and Theda R. James, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellee.

Opinion:
RYDER, Judge.
Indigent Henry Lee Johnson appeals an order requiring him to perform sixty hours of community service in lieu of paying a fine of $200.00 in costs after he received a guidelines sentence of five years in the state prison for attempted burglary of a dwelling.
Johnson claims that section 27.-3455, Florida Statutes (1985), which authorizes a court to impose such service in lieu of a fine, is unconstitutional in that it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Johnson draws our attention to Williams v. Illinois, 399 U.S. 235, 90 S.Ct. 2018, 26 L.Ed.2d 586 (1970) and tells us Williams prohibits incarceration solely because one is indigent. The concept and the program of community service is, however, not one requiring incarceration. It is a means through which the state meets its goals of punishment and deterrence as is permitted under Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660, 103 S.Ct. 2064, 76 L.Ed. 221 (1983).
We hold section 27.3455, Florida Statutes (1985), and section 948.031, Florida Statutes (1983), constitutional and, thus, affirm.
Affirmed.
GRIMES, A.C.J., and SANDERLIN, J., concur.