By the end of 2015, more than 1.9 million Californians, many of who whom are unemployed, disabled or homeless, had suspended licenses for failure to appear or failure to pay on citations, according to data provided by the coalition of groups, which includes the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California.

During that time period, there were nearly 33,000 suspended licenses in Solano County for a combination of failure to pay and failure to appear in court, which is about 7.75% of the county’s total population. And more than 11,000 of those suspensions were solely for failure to pay, the coalition wrote in a letter on Tuesday to the Hon. Robert C. Fracchia, Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of Solano County.

Snowball effect

In many instances, drivers receive an initial fine for some violation, with lots of additional fees tacked on. What was a $100 fine could be several hundred dollars and only swelling from there, sometimes escalating to thousands as payment is not made. This often leads to a suspension, which limits the driver’s ability to get to work and perpetuates the problem, the coalition argued.

“These non-safety related suspensions make it harder for people to get and keep jobs, harm credit ratings, increase county financial burdens in support of health and welfare and make it less likely that the court fines and fees will ever get paid,” the coalition wrote. “For low-income and indigent drivers, fines and fees create an insurmountable obstacle to the reinstatement of a driver’s license.”

Correlation to poverty 

Data shows a strong correlation between high poverty rates and high suspension rates in the bay area.

The Vehicle Code permits suspension for failure to pay only if the driver does so “willfully,” which the group argued shouldn’t include “indigence or financial difficulties.” The group continued that drivers should be afforded due process protections, meaning drivers should be “heard on the element of ‘willfulness’ and their ability to pay.”

Demands

The coalition is asking that Solano County Superior Court cease the practice of suspending licenses for unpaid fines.

But assuming the court doesn’t immediately comply, the coalition demands the court give the offending drivers notification of the total amount of fines and fees due, of his or her right to a judicial determination of ability to pay, of any payment options available (including an installment plan) and of the possibility that the driver’s license may be suspended.

Other efforts

Last month, the group sent a similar letter to the San Mateo County Superior Court.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the Bay Area, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and the Western Center on Law and Poverty are working with the ACLU Foundation of Northern California in these efforts.

A 2013 provision in the state budget offered major relief of fines due before Jan. 2013 but not for those after. So the ACLU of Northern California and others are calling to cease the suspensions entirely, or at least until certain safeguards are established.

What happens is that drivers receive an initial fine with lots of additional fees tacked on. What could be a $100 fine is now several hundred dollars and it only swells from there, sometimes even into the thousands, according to ACLU of Northern California staff.

The ACLU of Northern California and other groups have been studying the effect this has on low-income drivers in Bay Area counties. They note the problem is only worsened if fees aren’t paid on time, because then the license is suspended, jeopardizing the driver’s ability to get to work.

And many of these citations are for minor infractions like not wearing a seat belt or not signaling on a turn.

“What we’re looking for is a system that doesn’t punish people for being poor,” said Micaela Davis, staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, told CalWatchdog. “What we see is that the fines and fees are so exorbitant on simple traffic citations that people simply can’t afford to pay.”

Detractors may argue that it’s the driver’s actions that incurred the fine in the first place, but Davis dismissed that notion, saying there are more effective ways of handling the issue.

“We can hold people accountable without also ruining their lives,” Davis said.

On Monday, the ACLU of Northern California, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and the Western Center on Law and Poverty sent a demand letter to the San Mateo County Superior Court arguing that it change its policy. The coalition argued that judges have an option to suspend, not a mandate.

The coalition, along with Bay Area Legal Aid, also on Monday sent a letter to the the California Judicial Council, which is the policy-making board of the California court system, urging it to instruct the courts to stop.