To the Editor:

“A Traffic Ticket of $13,000,” by Emily Reina Dindial and Ronald J. Lampard (Op-Ed, May 28), makes critical points about the punitive policy of suspending driver’s licenses. But what the writers don’t note is that too often people who fail to pay fines and fees don’t just lose their driver’s licenses or accumulate debt; they may end up in jail.

In our criminal justice system, jail time is often served by those who simply cannot afford to pay, rather than by those who pose a threat to public safety. Fortunately, cities and counties across the country are beginning to change this as part of their efforts to safely reduce local jail populations.

As New Orleans; Lucas County, Ohio; Pima County, Ariz.; and Pennington, S.D., have shown, the result is a fairer, more effective system and fewer people behind bars who don’t need to be.

For too long we’ve punished people for nothing other than the crime of being poor. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Laurie Garduque
Chicago
The writer is director of criminal justice at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

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