a single queer tear 💧

Quick primer: Anytime a person is found guilty of a criminal/traffic offense, they are imposed a series of fees (which fund administrative costs and state programs); and fines (which are purely intended as punishment). 2/

When people can’t pay these court costs, they face harsh punishments: suspended driver's licenses, arrest warrants, and even incarceration. In the first 6 months of 2018, Delaware sentenced 129 people to jail ONLY because they could not pay court costs. 3/

Taking away someone’s ability to go to work is completely counterproductive. It can spur a cycle of mounting court debt from driving without a valid license. Many struggle to dig themselves out of because their ability to earn any money has been taken away from them. 4/

It is a practice that has harmed Delawareans, especially low-income & residents of color, many of whom make up our Wilmington community. So I’m excited to hear Council’s support of ridding this awful practice. If enacted statewide, will prevent harm to thousands. 5/

But it’s also crucial to note that this reform is one of several DE needs in order to fix this. Senate Bill 39, pending in the state legislature, also gives judges power to consider a person’s ability to pay before assessing fines&fees. This is critical. 6/

Right now, court fees are universally enforced. That means misdemeanor charges - like driving without a valid license, disorderly conduct, or even something as simple as expired dog tags - can leave people with over $200 just in FEES. 7/

And our current system makes it near impossible to dig your way out of that debt: with no consolidated system to check one’s balance, no centralized location to pay in cash, and significant late fees on top of it all. The devastation debt can incur snowballs from there. 8/

How can we expect people to succeed when we weigh them down with hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars that they can't pay? How much money are we wasting chasing people down and throwing them in prison, just because we’ve saddled them with an ever increasing debt? 9/

Basically, prohibiting driver’s license suspensions it like trying to stop a wound from bleeding. If we stop fining people money they can never pay, we can also stop this harm at its source, and ensure people are never doomed to lifetimes of debt in the first place. 10/

As aforementioned, there is a pending state bill in the DE state legislature, SB39. In its current and original form, it accomplishes 5 critical reforms to the fines & fees system: (11/)

1. Make courts analyze a person’s ability to pay before issuing fines and fees 2. Cease suspending drivers’ licenses for inability to pay fines and fees 3. Ban courts from issuing late fees for unpaid fines and fees (12/)

4. Make municipalities, law enforcement agencies, and the courts track and disclose how much of their budgets come from fines and fees 5. Create a consolidated system by which people can see how much they owe in court costs and easily make payments (13/)

With all 5, we can stop a lot of the unnecessary harm and fallout stemming from inability to pay. Court debt can ensnare people in the criminal legal system for a lifetime, just for being POOR. We need to adopt these reforms statewide, and we need them NOW. (14/)