Law Bars Renewal of Driver’s Licenses for Residents with Unpaid Fines—Harming DC Residents’ Ability to Get and Keep Jobs and Exposing Thousands to Risks of Arrest, with Black Residents Arrested for Driving Without a Permit at 19 Times the Rate of White Residents
DC is One of Just Three Jurisdictions in the U.S. Clinging to this Counterproductive Policy
Today, a coalition of 32+ civil rights, faith-based, consumer protection, and justice advocacy groups released a letter and new report on how DC’s “Clean Hands” law disqualifies tens of thousands of residents from renewing their driver’s licenses as punishment for as little as $101 of unpaid fines or fees to the DC Government. Titled “Driving DC to Opportunity,” the report was prepared by coalition leader Tzedek DC and a pro bono team from the law firm Venable LLP. Highlighting real-life stories from District residents impacted by this discriminatory law, which in effect ties the ability to drive lawfully in DC to wealth, the report calls for immediate reform.
“Until I get a license, I fear that I will continue to have an extremely hard time supporting my family and achieving my dreams.”
- Salle, a DC parent of school-age children and a student at the University of the District of Columbia who is disqualified by DC’s Clean Hands Law from renewing her license because she has unpaid fines and fees from parking tickets and one moving violation. Salle’s video testimony is available here.
“Without a driver’s license, I can no longer take care of myself, I now suffer from depression, and I feel like less than a full man.”
- Norris, a DC father and grandfather who previously worked for a mortgage company, accumulated unpaid ticket fines, and under the Clean Hands Law is disqualified from renewing his driver’s license. Norris’s video testimony is available here.
In response to these and other stories of Tzedek DC clients unable to renew their driver’s licenses as punishment for unpaid fines, and to the related, extensive data analyzed in the report, Ariel Levinson-Waldman, Tzedek DC’s President and Director-Counsel, said:
“Changing this obsolete and unfair law is one of the simplest things the District can do to advance racial equity and equal opportunity in our community. When people can’t renew their driver’s licenses simply because they can’t get caught up on their debts, everyone loses. Reform is urgently needed.”
The report documents how Black community members in DC receive 65% of traffic tickets despite making up just 43% of DC’s population, imposing in effect a discriminatory driving tax that many residents of color cannot afford, with white DC households having 81 times more wealth than Black DC households.
The report shows that, by making it dramatically more difficult for residents to become or remain employed, DC’s Clean Hands law ultimately undermines the District’s ability to collect on debt. It further shows that the current law forces residents disqualified from renewal into a no-win choice between driving without a license and being unable to meet their daily obligations such as childcare, groceries, or getting a senior to a medical appointment. The report details DC Metropolitan Police Department data indicating that Black DC residents are arrested at 19 times the rate of White DC residents for the offense of driving without a permit.
While such coercive payment-based license schemes were once thought necessary to ensure collection of debts, it is now clear they are counterproductive and harmful. DC is now a national and regional outlier, one of just three jurisdictions in the United States that cling to this harmful, outdated approach. The report urges the DC Council to end this “cruel, counterproductive” policy, concluding that “wealth should not determine who can keep driving on DC’s streets.”
Coalition Members
ACLU of the District of Columbia
Ayuda
Blind Justice
Bread for the City
Building Bridges Across the River
Capital Area Asset Builders (CAAB)
CARECEN
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington
Coalition for Motorist Rights (joined after report's issuance)
Color of Change
DC Affordable Law Firm
DC Bar Pro Bono Center
DC Fiscal Policy Institute
DC Justice Lab (joined after report's issuance)
DC KinCare Alliance
DC Volunteers Lawyers Project
Fines and Fees Justice Center
Howard University School of Law Human and Civil Rights Clinic
Institute for Justice (joined after report’s issuance)
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington
Jews United for Justice
Legal Aid Justice Center
Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
Legal Counsel for the Elderly
Network for Victim Recovery of DC (NVRDC)
Peter Edelman, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Public Policy, Georgetown University Law Center
Pro Bono Institute
Rising for Justice
Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan DC
Tzedek DC
United Planning Organization
University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law
Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
Washington Interfaith Network (WIN)
Whitman-Walker Health Legal Services