Questão jurídica principal
Whether the appellate court violated federal law by choosing a conditional monetary penalty instead of a custodial sentence
Decisão extraída
No. For penalties in the six-month-to-one-year range, the monetary penalty is generally the primary sanction; the chosen day-fine amount was not merely symbolic and was suitable despite the respondent's poor finances.
Fundamentação extraída
The court held that the choice of sanction type lies within broad discretion. Economic hardship and likely inability to pay are not decisive for selecting the sanction type; installment facilities and substitution by custodial sentence in enforcement remain available. A CHF 30 day-fine had sufficient concrete punitive effect.