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Va. law that seizes licenses for unpaid court debt appears doomed. Good riddance.
Va. law that seizes licenses for unpaid court debt appears doomed. Good riddance.
By Bob Lewis - December 16, 2019
You’re driving along when blue strobes begin flashing not too far off your rear bumper and you pull to the side of the road. It’s a busted taillight, maybe expired tags or driving a few miles per hour over the speed limit. “License and registration please.”
You know the drill.
For most Virginians, it’s a nuisance. Pay a fine, take a hit on your car insurance premiums and it’s over. ... For about a million Virginians with little money — about one in every six motorists — it’s been a very different experience. A state law that mandates license suspensions for delinquent court debts draws them ever deeper into an inky whirlpool of joblessness, worsening financial ruin, despair and even jail. About two-thirds of the suspensions are suspended solely for nonpayment, not for any traffic offense
For Brianna Morgan, 33, the combined fines, court costs and accrued interest topped $600 — an impossible sum to repay for an unemployed, disabled mother of three. ... “It came down to ‘If I pay this, I can’t eat for a month,’ or ‘If I pay this, I can’t buy diapers for my baby,’” said Morgan, a named plaintiff in a pending federal lawsuit challenging Virginia’s license suspension law. “I don’t want to say that it’s life or death, but it’s very similar.”
Dire necessity forced her to drive to the grocery or to doctors’ appointments despite her suspended license, as countless other people trapped in the same situation have done. Using backroads and driving cautiously, she avoided being stopped for unlicensed driving. Many aren’t so lucky. Those who do risk incarceration.
There is a good chance that 2020 will see the permanent demise of the law, thanks to the efforts of lawyers, legislators and advocates for the rights of those in poverty. At the forefront has been Amy Woolard of the Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center.
....
By Bob Lewis - December 16, 2019
You’re driving along when blue strobes begin flashing not too far off your rear bumper and you pull to the side of the road. It’s a busted taillight, maybe expired tags or driving a few miles per hour over the speed limit. “License and registration please.”
You know the drill.
For most Virginians, it’s a nuisance. Pay a fine, take a hit on your car insurance premiums and it’s over. ... For about a million Virginians with little money — about one in every six motorists — it’s been a very different experience. A state law that mandates license suspensions for delinquent court debts draws them ever deeper into an inky whirlpool of joblessness, worsening financial ruin, despair and even jail. About two-thirds of the suspensions are suspended solely for nonpayment, not for any traffic offense
For Brianna Morgan, 33, the combined fines, court costs and accrued interest topped $600 — an impossible sum to repay for an unemployed, disabled mother of three. ... “It came down to ‘If I pay this, I can’t eat for a month,’ or ‘If I pay this, I can’t buy diapers for my baby,’” said Morgan, a named plaintiff in a pending federal lawsuit challenging Virginia’s license suspension law. “I don’t want to say that it’s life or death, but it’s very similar.”
Dire necessity forced her to drive to the grocery or to doctors’ appointments despite her suspended license, as countless other people trapped in the same situation have done. Using backroads and driving cautiously, she avoided being stopped for unlicensed driving. Many aren’t so lucky. Those who do risk incarceration.
There is a good chance that 2020 will see the permanent demise of the law, thanks to the efforts of lawyers, legislators and advocates for the rights of those in poverty. At the forefront has been Amy Woolard of the Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center.
....
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