Criminal Justice

Montana Shouldn’t Take Away Driver’s License for Inability to Pay Court Fines.

Note: Excerpt from Billings Gazette on January 19th, 2019.

“The Montana Legislature has a tremendous opportunity to end suspending an individual’s driver’s license for conduct unrelated to dangerous driving. House Bill 217 filed by Republican Rep. Casey Knudsen would end Montana’s practice of suspending the driver’s licenses of individuals who fail to pay court debt. In 2018, the state suspended the driver’s licenses of an estimated 14,000 people, including those who were too poor to pay their fines and fees. If someone owes a debt to a court and has not had any other infractions other than being unable to pay their fines and fees, then they should be able to discharge their obligation via other means, such as performing community service.”

To read more about driver’s license suspensions and their relation (or lack thereof) to public safety, please read ALEC’s Criminal Justice Task Force Director Ronnie Lampard’s full article at Billings Gazette.


In Depth: Criminal Justice

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