Cummings v. State of Florida (Marion Cnty.)

SLC and the ACLU of Florida achieved a victory in Marion County Court for Anthony Cummings, a homeless man who had been illegally assessed $824 in court costs and had his driver’s license suspended in three cases of “open lodging” under an Ocala ordinance. Municipal ordinance violations are not criminal under Florida law, and driver’s license suspensions are only permitted for unpaid criminal financial obligations. Cummings’ court costs were reduced to $18 per violation and his license reinstated. The Clerk of Court also rescinded 1,602 other driver’s license suspensions in Marion County resulting from unpaid court costs and will no longer impose more than $18 in costs per municipal ordinance violation or seek driver’s license suspensions in non-criminal cases or unpaid traffic citations. The Clerk also took ordinance violation cases out of collections, removing a 20% collections surcharge and alleviating the negative impacts on credit histories. As a result, 38 individuals in Marion County charged with municipal ordinance violations now owe at least $11,685 less than they would have prior to the litigation.

SLC and the ACLU of Florida attorneys then met with the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), which provided statewide data showing license suspensions for nonpayment in local ordinance violation cases. The DHSMV sent letters to Clerks of Court in 29 counties, notifying of its intention to reinstate driver’s licenses for more than 10,000 drivers. A copy of the Cummings order was attached to each letter as legal authority demonstrating the suspensions were unauthorized by law. Additionally, the DHSMV has added the following note to their Uniform Traffic Code Manual: “The department has become aware that some of the notices submitted by certain clerks of court for failing to pay CFOs [criminal financial obligation] for criminal offenses were submitted for violations of municipal ordinances and county ordinances, which may lack sufficient legal authority to suspend a driver license. Clerks should ensure only lawful requests for DL action are submitted.” We estimate that approximately 14,000 suspensions have been lifted statewide. We are following up with the few counties that have not agreed to lift suspensions