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Cycles of Debt: Research Indicates That Driver’s License Suspensions Over Unpaid Fines Targets Black Drivers

In the first-ever study of failure-to-pay suspensions in the United States, researchers  Sian Mughan and Joanna Carroll examined a sample of over 2000 drivers who received traffic tickets in Marion County, Indiana between 2011 and 2016. Researchers analyzed the long-term impact of suspensions between two groups, those who paid their ticket right before the 72-day deadline and those who paid after the deadline and received a suspension. Black drivers with failure-to-pay suspensions were 9 percent more likely to get another ticket, whereas White drivers saw a 3 percent decrease in their likelihood of getting another ticket. Mughan and Carroll concluded that driving better to avoid being pulled over is an ineffective strategy for Black drivers, who are more likely to have an encounter with police regardless of how they drive.

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Milwaukee Independent
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