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Personal Narrative: Jason

Jason’s only license suspension stems from a ticket for having two broken car lights. Following the police stop, he never received anything in the mail with information regarding how to pay the ticket or the date and time of his court date. However, about nine months after he was stopped, Livingston was shocked and confused when he received a letter stating that a default judgment was entered against him, he owed the court approximately $850, and his license was suspended.

Personal Narrative: Russell

During the early morning of January 2, 2019, Russell was pulled over for his headlight and the officer informed him that his license was suspended. Russell had no idea that his license was suspended and later found out that it was because he had unpaid tickets from 5 to 6 years ago.

Personal Narrative: Melanie

Melanie is a white, 45-year-old resident of South Carolina. As a mother, she tries her best to care for her children but she has not been able to provide basic healthcare for them for years due to her license suspension.

Personal Narrative: Sharon McGee

Sharon McGee was 16 years old when she was stopped by a police officer and ticketed for not completely stopping at a stop sign. At the time, McGee was working a minimum wage job and living on her own.

Why journalists should cover local jails

In this article for The Poynter Institute, Al Tompkins underscores the importance of journalists covering local jails and suggests several coverage angles that journalists can use to convince readers to care more about incarceration at the local level.

Personal Narrative: Jane Doe

Jane Doe was driving and arrived at a traffic checkpoint operated by the Buffalo Police Department. Because she lacked a harness for her children's booster seats, she was assessed eight points on her driver’s license, $446 in fines and $450 for a Driver Responsibility Assessment. During this time, Ms. Doe was a full time student with no income. BTVA refused to accept partial payments or provide a payment plan. Unable to pay, her learner’s permit was suspended. In 2018, she used her tax refund to pay her traffic tickets and reinstate her permit.
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