Tag: North Carolina

National Harm from Suspending Licenses in Response to Unpaid, Unaffordable Court Fines and Fees

By Annie Han Driving is critical for many people in North Carolina. North Carolinians need to drive to work, to take their children to school, and to complete other everyday tasks like grocery shopping and attending to their health. But, as important as is the right to drive, it can easily be taken away as […]

Wilson Center Releases New Report on NC Fines, Fees, and Driver’s License Suspensions

For some of us, an $80 speeding ticket is an unpleasant inconvenience. Yet for others, particularly those living in poverty, that same ticket can turn into a years-long nightmare of crushing debt and even the loss of their driver’s license altogether. Traffic tickets, infractions, and misdemeanors: these are the lowest level criminal cases. Yet the […]

Wilson Center Executive Director Appointed Special Master in NC COVID Litigation

Wilson Center Executive Director Thomas Maher has been appointed special master in the North Carolina litigation over the state prison system’s handling of COVID-19. NAACP v. Cooper was filed earlier this year on behalf of several civil rights organizations, including the North Carolina NAACP and ACLU, as well as several incarcerated individuals. The plaintiffs have […]

Forward Justice’s Atkinson Estimates 5,000 Could Vote This Election Thanks to Lawsuit over Felony Disenfranchisement

By De’Ja Wood and Sydney Gaviser  Felony disenfranchisement rates are highest in Southern states, including in North Carolina, where voting restrictions passed during the Jim Crow era aimed to limit the political power of Black men.   The Sentencing Project estimates that more than 5 million people across the nation will not be able to vote […]