The Justice Department shines a light on the high price of petty court costs

The Justice Department shines a light on the high price of petty court costs
The Washington Post

March 18 at 6:50 PM Each year in Virginia, state courts order license suspensions for 300,000 to 400,000 drivers, many of them indigent, who have failed to pay court costs — fines and fees stemming from convictions. Some 900,000 suspensions were in effect last year. That means roughly a sixth of the commonwealth’s motorists have lost their driving privileges because they were unwilling or, perhaps more frequently, unable to pay fines and fees. The fines and fees may be levied for serious crimes, Read the full story