A new Ohio law will lift driver's license suspensions for people with unpaid court fines and fees. The law takes effect on April 9. Going forward, courts can no longer issue immediate license suspensions when drivers don't pay a court fine or fee.
It's a change advocates have been seeking for years, arguing that license suspensions unfairly impacted low-income drivers and people of color.
State officials don't have an estimate of how many suspended drivers will be impacted by the law change. Estimates put the number of drivers in the state with court-ordered license suspensions due to unpaid fines and fees at 600,000.
Lawmakers who supported the new law says it gives drivers a second chance and helps end the cycle of debt.
Wednesday on the “Sound of Ideas,” we'll talk to a reporter with The Marshall Project Cleveland about this new law, how it's being applied and what individuals and courts must do to make sure people get their licenses back.
Later in the show, a conversation about how Ohio food banks are dealing with the growing need from families in Ohio while also dealing with funding cuts at the federal and potentially the state level too.
Finally, we bring you an excerpt of the next episode of Ideastream’s “Living For We: Keep Ya Head Up” podcast entitled "Something Greater Than Me."
Guests:
- Rachel Dissell, Contributing Editor, The Marshall Project
- Joree Novotny, Executive Director, Ohio Association of Foodbanks
- Marlene Harris-Taylor, Deputy Editor of Engaged Journalism, Ideastream Public Media
- Myesha Watkins, Executive Director, Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance
- Stanley Frankart, Co-founder, Young Christian Professionals
