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Home > Maine Things Considered > Legislature Votes That Drivers Will Not Have Licenses Suspended For Failing To Pay Fines
Podcast: Maine Things Considered
Episode:

Legislature Votes That Drivers Will Not Have Licenses Suspended For Failing To Pay Fines
Category: Government & Organizations
Duration: 00:01:59
Publish Date: 2018-07-09 16:41:14
Description: Among the vetoes overridden by Maine lawmakers Monday is one that supporters are calling a "significant victory for criminal justice reform." The Legislature is putting an end to the practice of automatic drivers' license suspensions for failing to pay fines for most non-driving-related violations. Advocates for the poor have long complained that the current system punishes low income and rural Mainers with no access to public transportation most of all: failure to pay a fine for a criminal offense and your driver's license is automatically suspended. Oami Amarasingham of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maine says this traps low income people in the criminal justice system because they are essentially left with two options. "They're gonna be isolated and homebound, or they're gonna drive on a suspended license, which happens frequently because people need to drive to get to work, to go to the doctor's office, to go to the grocery store,” Amarasingham says. “And then people
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