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Important public assets are “simply being wasted” on punishing motorists who fail to pay fines to the state Registry of Motor Automobiles, civil rights advocates stated Monday as they made the newest case for reform.
Representatives from teams together with the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Committee for Public Counsel and the Massachusetts Bar Affiliation urged lawmakers to advance laws (H 3314) that might stop suspending driver’s licenses solely for nonpayment of fines.
The present observe, they stated, creates a vicious cycle for lower-income drivers. Somebody who’s unable to afford a superb may get their license suspended, then be rendered unable to legally drive to work and subsequently face even better monetary hardship — or they may proceed to drive on a suspended license and fall into extra severe authorized bother.
Michael Ryan, a CPCS lawyer, informed the Transportation Committee that driving with no license and driving with a suspended license are the 2 mostly charged crimes within the state’s trial courts, representing greater than 15 p.c of all prices filed within the District Court docket system in fiscal yr 2023.
The “overwhelming majority” of these suspensions, Ryan stated, stemmed from “unpaid fines to the RMV,” not a extra severe security concern.
“These people must have attorneys appointed to them — the commonwealth is spending cash. We’ve got to have court docket hearings — the commonwealth is spending cash. We’ve got to have an [assistant district attorney] assessment the file — the commonwealth is spending cash. We’ve got to have a clerk concern the grievance — the commonwealth is spending cash,” added Barry Bisson, an lawyer who addressed the committee on behalf of the Massachusetts Bar Affiliation. “That is cash and assets that [are] simply being wasted, sadly.
Advocates pushed for the same reform final session, however an earlier model of the invoice by no means acquired a full Home or Senate vote.
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