Subverting the law: Traffic courts, driver’s license suspension reforms, and racial inequality

• In Event: Macro Determinants of Inequality: The Role of Politics, Policies, and Institutions (Co-sponsored by Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility Section)

Abstract

Millions of people in the United States have their driver’s license suspended each year when they do not pay a traffic fine or appear in traffic court. These suspensions are concentrated in Black and Latinx communities that experience higher levels of socioeconomic disadvantage, residential segregation, and policing. Our study analyzes changes that occurred across New York State following the June 2021 enactment of the New York Driver’s License Suspension Reform Act (DLSRA), which ended suspensions for failure to pay traffic tickets. Drawing on unique DMV records, we show that although total suspensions declined across the state when suspensions for failure to pay were eliminated, suspensions for failure to appear in court increased in response to the law. Traffic courts played a key role in subverting the equity-based goals of the DLSRA.

Authors

• Peter M. Rich, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Maureen Waller, Cornell University

• Kayla Jones, Cornell University

• Stephane Daniel Andrade, Vassar College