Penalized for being poor: Michigan drivers could get break on license suspensions

BY: ANGIE JACKSON – DETROIT FREE PRESS (FREEP)

Kamal Lukata Anderson experienced more than two decades of repeated arrests and stints in jail for driving with a suspended license. It all started in 1993, with a ticket he couldn’t afford. 

Anderson, who is 46 now, was 19 and working temp jobs to make ends meet when police pulled him over for a busted taillight and ticketed him for not having proof of insurance. As he remembers it, he didn’t have the cash to pay the fine, and he missed his court hearing. The state suspended his driver’s license, and the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

Facing mounting fees that he couldn’t afford, Anderson continued to drive without a license, falling into a cycle that would play on a loop for years. He says police would pull him over for minor infractions — usually as he commuted between his home in Detroit and factory jobs in the suburbs — and these stops would frequently end with his arrest for driving with a suspended license.

“I got one warrant back in the day and it tailspinned because I couldn’t afford to clear it,” he said. The debt tied to his suspensions ballooned to roughly $10,000 and ultimately led Anderson to file for bankruptcy. His driving privileges restored, he now works as a bus driver in Detroit. 

“You’re getting penalized for being poor,” Anderson said. 

Michigan issues hundreds of thousands of license suspensions annually for nonpayment of fines and fees and failure to appear in court, a penalty mandated by law. In 2019, Michigan handed out 365,965 license suspensions for those reasons, including multiple suspensions for some drivers, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. More than 2.5 million suspensions were issued between 2014 and 2019. 

Organizations calling for change in Michigan and across the country say suspending driver’s licenses as a penalty for not paying fines and fees traps people in poverty: It’s tough for people to get to work if they can’t drive, and if they can’t work, they can’t pay the money to get their driver’s license back. Proponents of reform say this practice can upend someone’s life, compromising their ability to hold down a job and take care of their family. 

Some states have enacted legislation in recent years abandoning the practice of stripping drivers of their licenses over court debt, while others have taken steps to limit suspensions. 

Michigan’s system could get an overhaul, too. Recommendations from the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration resulted in a package of bills introduced in June and July that would, among other changes, do away with license suspensions for traffic violations not related to unsafe driving and decriminalize some traffic misdemeanors. The task force in January presented lawmakers with 18 ways to reduce the state’s jail populations after hearing input from the public and experts last year.

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During a news conference last month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers referred to the bills as a step toward fixing the state’s broken criminal justice system. Legislative leaders signaled that they will prioritize the legislation.

One of the bills introduced in the House would eliminate license suspensions under the Michigan Vehicle Code that are not related to dangerous driving. Licenses would only be suspended for failure to pay fines and fees or failure to appear when the underlying violation is one of the following: operating while intoxicated, reckless driving, or any driving violation that causes injury, death or serious impairment to another person.  

Rep. Bronna Kahle, R-Adrian, the bill’s sponsor, said this “common sense” criminal justice reform will strengthen the economy without jeopardizing public safety. 

“We want the people of Michigan to be working, to be able to put food on the table and to be able to take care of their families, to be contributing, tax-paying members of our community and to know the dignity of a good-paying job,” Kahle said during a webinar hosted by Safe & Just Michigan, an organization that advocates for policies to reduce incarceration. 

How it works

By law, the Secretary of State’s Office automatically suspends someone’s driver’s license after a local court notifies the agency that the individual didn’t respond to a traffic citation or didn’t comply with a court judgment within a certain time frame. Suspensions are indefinite until fines and fees are paid. 

The Secretary of State collects a $125 license reinstatement fee on top of $45 the individual owes to the court for a suspension arising from failure to pay or failure to appear, plus potential additional civil fees. A 2018 report by the libertarian think tank the Reason Foundation said these costs can take varying forms, and failing to pay fines and fees from a suspension typically results in more money owed.

“Each time an individual is caught trying to drive with a suspended license, these additional fines and fees make it harder for them to return to driving legally,” the report said. 

This practice exacerbates poverty in cities like Detroit, said Kimberly Buddin, policy counsel for the ACLU of Michigan. She said people can face the choice ofeither making their rent and buying groceries or paying their tickets. 

“What we know is that debt for unpaid tickets disproportionately impacts a city’s lowest income residents. And that the highest rates of accumulated ticket debt are typically concentrated in African-American communities,” Buddin said. “We see that there’s a relative lack of jobs in these low-income neighborhoods. People in these communities often need to commute … but live in transit deserts.”

In Detroit last year, the 36th District Court referred 8,405 people to the Secretary of State for license suspensions for failure to pay and 37,506 people for failure to appear, according to data provided by the court. 

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People caught driving after they’ve lost their license can be charged with a misdemeanor that carries penalties of up to 93 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $500. A subsequent offense boosts the maximum potential penalties to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.

bill introduced by Kahle would reclassify many other traffic misdemeanors as civil infractions that carry fines. Driving with a suspended license would come with a fine of up to $100 for a first violation and up to $200 for subsequent violations. Civil infractions aren’t punishable by jail time unless the individual doesn’t comply with the court’s directive. 

A web of fines

The Detroit Justice Center, whose attorneys represent individuals facing low-level traffic misdemeanors, published a report in March that detailed how a ticket that might be a minor inconvenience for someone of means can spiral into an “ever-growing web” of fines, suspended licenses and the constant threat of jail time for low-income individuals.

Erin Keith, a Detroit Justice Center staff attorney, testified in June to the House Judiciary Committee that her clients whose licenses have been suspended don’t have a blatant disregard for the law. 

“They are just poor. They do not have the money to pay off the usually very minor ticket that got their licenses suspended in the first place,” she said. 

John Blackwell, 47, was on the hook for $5,000 in fines and fees to get his license reinstated before he found the help of the Detroit Justice Center. An attorney got many of his old, outstanding tickets dismissed, bringing his debt down to $1,300. 

Blackwell said his license was suspended in 2005 over unpaid tickets he couldn’t afford. He estimates that police towed his car 10 times for driving with a suspended license, leaving him with a bill for several hundred dollars to get his vehicle back each time.

He got his license reinstated in July. As a carpenter foreman in Detroit, Blackwell said he can make an additional $2 an hour now that he can drive a company truck. 

Blackwell looks forward to taking his adult sons to the Upper Peninsula for the first time — a drive far from home that he never would’ve fathomed without a valid license. 

“I’ve been wanting to show the kids the state for a long time,” he said. “I want to be able to show them the Porcupines, go out there to the sand dunes, Pictured Rocks. We’ve got a big state.” 

Help for ‘average’ people

Driving without a valid license is the third most common reason that people are booked into jails in Michigan, according to a sample of data compiled for the jails task force by Pew Charitable Trusts.

The data show racial disparities. Driving without a valid license was the most serious charge at jail admission for 12% of Black men and 15% of Black women, compared to 6% for both white men and women, according to Pew. 

Anderson, who is Black, estimates that police pulled him over 30 times between 1993 and 2016 for issues such as a muffler that was too loud, an expired plate, a cracked windshield. His driving record from the Secretary of State shows one speeding ticket. He says racial profiling played a prominent role in his stops. 

“It just always felt like you were driving while Black, as they say. These officers would literally zig-zag through traffic to get behind you and follow you,” he said. 

Rep. Tenisha Yancey, D-Harper Woods, a member of the jails task force, said the package of bills would reduce the number of people who interact with police and end up in jail — outcomes she said are especially relevant following the death of George Floyd and the spread of COVID-19 infections in jails and prisons. Speaking at last month’s new conference, she said the reform would constitute “huge progress” toward systemic change at a time when the public is calling for police accountability. 

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Nine states don’t suspend licenses for failure to pay fines and fees, and seven don’t suspend licenses for failure to appear, according to the Free to Drive campaign. Oregon is among the latest states to end suspensions as a penalty for court debt. There, legislation garnered support from the criminal justice community, with the state police superintendent testifying that suspensions over debt contribute to racial disparities in policing, The Oregonian reported. 

In Michigan, Anderson testified to the House Judiciary Committee that for 22 years, his suspended license subjected him to racial profiling, harassment, police brutality and incarceration. He told the Free Press that the crushing debt from his suspensions contributed to the lowest points of his life: the erosion of his marriage and a hopelessness that at one point had him considering suicide. 

Anderson said all he wanted was “just to be a regular citizen” when his license was suspended. His story would’ve played out differently if he’d been financially well off, he said.

Anderson said he thinks the proposed reform is a start to “helping everyday, average individuals be able to live normal lives without being in fear because they can’t afford to stay out of jail.”

Angie Jackson covers the challenges of formerly incarcerated citizens as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, with support from the Hudson-Webber Foundation. Click here to support her work. Contact Angie: ajackson@freepress.com; 313-222-1850. Follow her on Twitter: @AngieJackson23

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