Demetrice Moore is a certified nursing assistant (CNA) and mother of two children. In 2002, she was convicted of grand larceny, and sentenced to jail and to pay court costs, including the cost of the lawyer appointed to represent her because she was indigent. She served her jail time, but was unable to pay the court costs she owed, which resulted in the automatic suspension of her Virginia driver’s license. As a CNA, she had to drive extensively to care for elderly and disabled patients in their homes. Consequently, she was convicted several times for driving on a suspended license, and was jailed for that offense for 23 days in 2016. She stopped working as a CNA because of the required driving. Her court debt from the multiple convictions and accumulated interest ballooned to almost $4,500, and she could not afford the $100 per month payment plan offered by one of the courts. Having been stripped of her license for over a decade, Ms. Moore and the family she supports have been punished, far beyond the terms of her sentencing 15 years ago, because she is poor.
Source: Driven by Dollars