One of the situations requiring a person to recite Birkat Ha’gomel is his release from prison. If a person had been incarcerated, he recites Birkat Ha’gomel upon being released.
The Halachic authorities address the question of whether one recites this Beracha if he chose to go to prison rather than pay a penalty. If the judge offered a person the option of paying a fine or going to jail, and he chose imprisonment, does he recite Birkat Ha’gomel after leaving prison? One might argue that since he chose to put himself in this situation, he does not recite the Beracha of Ha’gomel upon his release.
The Hid"a (Rav Haim Yosef David Azulai, 1724-1806), in his work Birkeh Yosef, cites Rabbi Yosef Ibn Migash (Spain, 1077-1141) who discusses this question in Siman 90. He writes that this issue cannot be conclusively resolved, and therefore a person in this situation should recite Birkat Ha’gomel without "Shem U’malchut" (meaning, without the phrase, "Hashem Elokenu Melech Ha’olam"). This is the ruling of the Shaareh Teshuba (commentary to the Orah Haim section of the Shulhan Aruch by Rav Haim Mordechai Margoliyot, 18th century).
In his work Mahazik Beracha (219:2), the Hid"a raises the question of why a person in this situation differs from a traveler who recites Birkat Ha’gomel upon returning safely from his journey. In that case, too, the person chooses to put himself in a situation of danger, by deciding to embark on the trip, and yet Halacha clearly requires travelers to recite Birkat Ha’gomel. Seemingly, then, a person who chooses imprisonment to avoid a fine should be no different than someone who chooses to embark on a trip. The Hid"a answers that traveling is often necessary for earning a livelihood, and Halacha certainly does not demand or expect people to remain home to avoid the dangers of travel. Trips are often essential for life, and thus traveling is indeed fundamentally different from opting for jail time over a penalty.
In any event, the Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909), in Parashat Ekeb (9), disputes this ruling, and writes that one recites Birkat Ha’gomel after being released from prison even if he had chosen imprisonment to avoid paying a penalty. He claims that the Sages did not draw distinctions between different situations of imprisonment ("Lo Pelug"), and therefore even in a situation where one chose to go to jail, he must recite the full text of Birkat Ha’gomel after his release. This is also the ruling of Hacham Ovadia Yosef in Hazon Ovadia – Berachot (p. 328), as codified by Rav Shemuel Pinhasi (contemporary) in his work Ve’chol Ha’haim (5:5; listen to audio recording for precise citation).
Summary: A person who was in prison must recite Birkat Ha’gomel upon being released, even if he had chosen to go to jail to avoid paying a penalty.
