Driver's licenses; suspension for failure to pay court fines and costs. (HB2409)
Introduced By
Progress
✓ |
Introduced |
✗ |
Passed Committee |
☐ |
Passed House |
☐ |
Passed Senate |
☐ |
Signed by Governor |
☐ |
Became Law |
Description
Payment of court fines and costs; suspension of driver's licenses. Read the Bill »
Outcome
Bill Has Failed
History
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 01/19/2017 | Committee |
| 01/19/2017 | Presented and ordered printed 17104464D |
| 01/19/2017 | Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice |
| 01/24/2017 | Assigned Courts sub: Criminal Law |
| 01/25/2017 | Subcommittee recommends laying on the table |
| 02/07/2017 | Left in Courts of Justice |
Comments
The ACLU-VA strongly supports this bill. Virginia needs to put the brakes on automatically suspending a person’s license for unpaid court fines and crimes unrelated to driving. License suspension should be an enforcement tool against bad drivers, not for minor, unrelated crimes such as simple drug possession. Recent national reports puts Virginia first in the nation with over 38,000 annual license suspensions for minor, unrelated drug crimes. This record number of suspensions strains limited police resources, wastes tax-payer dollars, and makes our roads less safe. The majority of states have opted out of the archaic “tough on crime” federal mandate and have not lost highway funding. Federal law allows for a simple process to opt out of automatically suspending licenses for drug offenses and it is time for Virginia to join the 38 states that have already done so. ACLU of Virginia supports legislation that would repeal automatic license suspensions for minor, unrelated crimes.