Viral video of man driving with suspended license is not what it seems

The whole world laughed at Corey Harris, a 44-year-old man from Michigan, who joined a court hearing on May 15 via Zoom about driving without a license – from behind the wheel of his car. The judge then ordered him to report to jail.

“Actually, I’m driving to my doctor’s office right now,” Harris said when Washtenaw County Judge Cedric J. Simpson asked him if he was driving. “Just give me a second. I’m parking.”

As funny as the situation may seem, it is no laughing matter. Neither for the millions of people across the country whose licenses were revoked, nor for Harris, who, as we have since learned, should have been allowed to drive without a license.

Harris, who has become the subject of numerous memes on the internet, appears stunned when the judge accuses him of driving and audibly expresses his frustration when the judge sentences him to prison.

But as funny as the situation may seem, it is no laughing matter. Neither for the millions of people across the country whose driver’s licenses were revoked, nor for Harris, who, as we have since learned, should have been able to drive freely and unhindered to a doctor’s appointment or anywhere else he wanted to go.

Detroit television station WXYZ-TV says it took “less than five minutes … to search Saginaw County records and find that in January 2022, a judge had lifted the order revoking Harris’ driver’s license so he could regain it.” The judge’s order was reportedly not properly communicated to the state’s Secretary of State’s office.

Harris, who described the situation as “very embarrassing,” told the television station that his suspension “should have been lifted two years ago, but it wasn’t.”

Contrary to what many may assume, Harris’ license was not suspended for anything related to his driving, but for unpaid child support. This is how it works across the country. States use license suspensions to collect unpaid debts. It has become the standard punishment without any awareness of its harsh impact on individuals, families, or communities, and despite clear evidence that it does not work as a policy. Suspending a driver’s license deprives a person of their livelihood. If the goal is to get someone to pay money, why would we deprive them of the ability to get to work? Suspending drivers’ licenses for debts defies logic.

As a retired judge, I know that in order to do justice, you have to know the full circumstances of the people appearing in court. Judge Simpson, as the rest of the world eventually would, seemed to jump to conclusions. He rolled his eyes when he received confirmation that Harris was driving, said, “I don’t even know why he would do that,” and sent Harris to jail. He was locked up for two days.

In the video his court released, the judge doesn’t take the time to get the facts about Harris. And his seemingly knee-jerk decision to revoke his bail and send Harris to jail suggests he didn’t consider how draconian and counterproductive debt-based suspensions are.

As a retired judge, I know that the administration of justice requires an understanding of the entire circumstances of the individuals who appear in court.

Of the millions of people in the United States whose driver’s licenses have been suspended due to unpaid debt, the vast majority simply cannot pay off their debts. Low-income earners and people of color, such as Harris, are disproportionately affected by driver’s license suspensions.

Most license suspensions are for simple violations, such as traffic violations. However, in California, a $100 traffic fine is subject to additional fees of $390, bringing the total to $490. As the Federal Reserve Board just reported, about 40% of Americans don’t have immediate access to $400 in an emergency. That means many people can’t pay a traffic violation without sacrificing food, rent, or other necessities for themselves or their families.

A study of unpaid child support found that about 70 percent of past-due child support is owed by parents who have not declared income or whose income is $10,000 or less per year. Most Americans drive to work, and losing their license often means losing their job or being forced to take a lower-paying job. Calculating conservatively, a driver’s license suspension results in an estimated annual income loss of $12,700. A recent national survey found that 99 percent of parents of minor children have had to limit at least one basic need to pay court-imposed fines and fees. Without a license, parents cannot legally drive their children to school or a family member to a doctor’s appointment. In fact, Mr. Harris was driving his wife to an urgent doctor’s appointment when he appeared in court via Zoom.

“What was I thinking?” he said in an interview with WXYZ-TV. “I was thinking about getting medical help for my wife. That’s what I was thinking. I wasn’t thinking about the fact that my license was suspended. I don’t care about any of that.”

This failed policy is also felt throughout entire communities. In Texas, researchers conservatively estimate that revocation of driver’s licenses results in an annual loss of $5.5 billion in revenue. That’s $5.5 billion that doesn’t circulate in the Texas economy. In Phoenix, on the other hand, the city’s GDP increased by $149.6 million after about 7,000 driver’s licenses were reinstated through the city’s Compliance Assistance Program.

Our Constitution prohibits sending people to prison for unpaid court debts unless a judge determines they have the ability to pay their debts. Yet people can and often do end up behind bars.

They are not ostensibly being sent to prison for the unpaid debt, but for the penalty imposed on them for not being able to pay that debt. Since people with suspended licenses often have to drive, they are often stopped by police and charged with driving without a license, which is a misdemeanor in every state. Consider Harris’ case. Judge Simpson did not ask why his license had been suspended, nor whether he could afford to pay his debt before sending him to prison. This happens every day in far too many courtrooms across this country. It is a circumvention of the Constitution.

A growing coalition of lawmakers, advocates and stakeholders from across the political spectrum see debt-related license suspensions for what they are: unfair, harsh and extraordinarily ineffective. They believe that licenses should only be suspended for unsafe driving, not for poverty. Over the past five years, more than 20 states have reformed or eliminated debt-related license suspensions, and the Delaware and Maryland legislatures are currently considering bills to eliminate license suspensions for nonpayment of child support.

The rest of the states need to follow suit, but until then, we need to remind judges – and the public – of the reality behind debt-based license suspensions and make it clear to them that everyone must be treated with respect and dignity. Harris did not deserve to be ridiculed. And he did not deserve to have his license revoked at all.