Federal court bars Tennessee from taking the driver's licenses of people who can't pay court costs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal court ruling against Tennessee will have broad ramifications for other states that revoke the driver's licenses of people who cannot afford to pay local court costs, a lawyer who worked on the case said Tuesday.

The Monday ruling from U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger called the practice unconstitutional.

Forty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws to suspend or revoke driver's licenses for failing to pay various court costs and fines, according to a Legal Aid Justice Center report released in September 2017. The District and 28 states suspend licenses for traffic court debt only.

Tennessee is among 15 states that are more far reaching; only Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Oklahoma require state officials to determine whether a person has the ability to pay, according to the report. The Charlottesville, Va., based advocacy nonprofit also was a part of the suit against Tennessee.

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Trauger's order means more than 100,000 people in Tennessee can start the process of regaining their driver's license, said Claudia Wilner, a senior attorney with the National Center for Law and Economic Justice in New York City who was part of the case.

"Practically speaking, this is going to be a huge benefit to the low-income people of Tennessee who are going to be able to drive to work, take their kids to school, go to the grocery store, visit the doctor, without fear of being arrested and prosecuted for driving without a license," Wilner said.

"Many, many people who have been unable to find work are going to be free to go back to work again," she said.

Court fees fuel the criminal justice system but are a significant burden for many people. Someone accused of petty crimes may face thousands of dollars of court costs; as that person fails to pay, the costs increase.

In Tennessee, a failure to pay means the state can revoke your driver's license. In her ruling, Trauger said the law is "not merely ineffective; it is powerfully counterproductive.

"If a person has no resources to pay a debt, he cannot be threatened or cajoled into paying it; he may, however, become able to pay it in the future. But taking his driver's license away sabotages that prospect," the judge wrote.

In the four years from July 1, 2012, to June 1, 2016, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security revoked revoked 146,211 driver's licenses for failure to pay fines, costs or other fees, an analysis cited in the judge's order shows.

Only 10,750 of those people had their licenses reinstated, according to the analysis.

Nathan Scruggs of Nashville is one of them. His license was revoked in 2013; Scruggs served a little more than 11 months in jail for a misdemeanor and had court costs to pay.

Scruggs, now 33, remembers how he felt at the time when considering how he would pay a $25 monthly fee.

"That’s a small fee, but the only thing is when you’re just getting out of jail even a dollar is a lot to not getting back on your feet. It’s completely overwhelming," Scruggs said.

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Before long, Scruggs said he started driving without a license. It was scary, but he didn't see any other way he could make ends meet.

"Every day of that continual stress, it adds up after a while. It’s a big backpack to carry," Scruggs said.

He's had his license for several years now, but reinstatement came only with the help of an advocacy organization and months of regular court payments. Court records show he paid roughly $800.

Tennessee law requires a driver's license reinstatement fee of $35 to $50, depending on the offense, in addition to accumulated court costs.

"I’ve been passionately trying to fix this legislative screw up for several years," state Rep. Jeremy Faison, a Republican from Cosby, Tenn., said on Twitter. "I’m glad a Fed court has helped but it is a shame that it had to go to court!"

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In January 2017, two men sued Tennessee because of the law. The lawsuit was granted class action status in March.

The law, which took effect in 2012, has done nothing to help people, said Josh Spickler, a Memphis lawyer who also worked on this case.

"As a public policy, it has served to do nothing but to drive people further into poverty," Spickler said.

Trauger's ruling orders the department to stop revoking the licenses and to reinstate the license of any individual who had driver's license revoked solely because of nonpayment of fees. The department must present a plan to the court within 60 days for how it plans to reinstate all of the licenses revoked under this law.

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A spokeswoman for the department referred comment to the Tennessee attorney general.

Both Wilner and Spickler said they believe the ruling likely means a similar order could come in another, related lawsuit they also brought against the state.

The lawyers also are suing the state on behalf of people who had their driver's licenses revoked for not paying traffic tickets. More than 250,000 people lost their licenses for not paying these tickets since 2012.

Trauger already granted the related lawsuit class-action status, and an order could come later this year.

Trauger's ruling Tuesday sets a precedent, Wilner said. It could affect hundreds of thousands of people trying to improve their lives.

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"This is the first decision in the nation to hold that these kinds of suspensions or revocations without consideration of a person's ability to pay are unconstitutional," the National Center for Law and Economic Justice lawyer said.

"The court’s opinion was so detailed and so thoughtful that we expect it to be extremely influential for other courts in other jurisdictions that will be considering the same question," she said.

Follow Dave Boucher on Twitter: @Dave_Boucher1

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