TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Nov 8, 2022

A new analysis from non-partisan think tank ThinkTennessee has found that the state’s policy of suspending driver’s licenses for failure to pay court debt has little impact on how much money the courts are able to recoup. According to the report, the practice creates additional challenges for people who are often living in poverty. “By making it harder to get to work and earn the money needed to pay off court costs, driver’s license revocations risk being a counterproductive policy, potentially trapping low-income Tennesseans in a cycle of court debt and poverty,” the report’s authors wrote. They added that the state should consider ending the practice. The practice was stopped and ruled unconstitutional in 2018, but the pause was temporary and was restarted in July 2021. The Commercial Appeal has more on the story.