Today, the Free to Drive campaign sent a letter to U.S. Senate leaders signed by over 50 institutions calling for passage of the federal Driving for Opportunity Act, which would create incentives for states to end debt-based driver’s license suspensions. Many states – red and blue – are moving to end this widespread practice. The Driving for Opportunity Act would further incentivize states to stop this policy by repealing the federal mandate to suspend driver’s licenses for certain non-driving-related offenses and authorizing targeted grants to states that repeal laws suspending driver’s licenses for unpaid fines and fees.
You can read the full text of the letter here.
The letter is signed by the following members of the Free to Drive campaign, and other institutions supporting this legislation:
ACLU of Colorado
ACLU of Washington
Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
Allegany County Public Defender’s Office, Belmont, NY*
Association of Prosecuting Attorneys
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
Center for Employment Opportunities
Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy*
Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice
Chicago Council of Lawyers*
Chicago Jobs Council
Chicago Urban League*
City of Durham, N.C.*
COFI / POWER-PAC IL*
Columbia Legal Services
Equal Justice Under Law
Fathers, Families, and Healthy Communities
Fines and Fees Justice Center
FreedomWorks
Georgia Justice Project
Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana
Justice Served NC*
Juvenile Law Center
Law Enforcement Action Partnership
Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime & Incarceration*
Libertas Institute
Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
Monroe County Public Defender’s Office*
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Center for Access to Justice at Fordham Law
National Center for Law and Economic Justice
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients)
National Legal Aid & Defender Association
National WIC Association
New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty
North Carolina Justice Center
Ohio Poverty Law Center
Oklahoma Women’s Coalition
Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform
Ontario County Office of the Conflict Defender*
Orange County, NC Criminal Justice Resource Department*
Prison Policy Initiative
Responsible Business Initiative for Justice
Shriver Center on Poverty Law
Southern Legal Counsel, Inc.
Texas Appleseed
Texas Civil Rights Project
Texas Fair Defense Project
The Bronx Defenders
The Charles W. Williamson Bar Foundation, Inc.*
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Tzedek DC
Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Washington Defender Association
Woodstock Institute
*these entities are not coalition members of the Free to Drive National Campaign, but have elected to sign this letter of support.