The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a state law limiting restitution awards for economic losses caused by certain criminal driving offenses that cause another person to be killed or seriously injured.
The 2006 law imposing a $10,000 cap on criminal restitution in those cases violated a right to prompt and full restitution under Victims Bill of Rights protections in the Arizona Constitution, the court ruling.
The justices upheld a Court of Appeals decision that reversed a Maricopa County Superior Court judge’s ruling that set a man’s restitution order at $10,000, down from the over $61,000 amount set by a Phoenix Municipal Court judge.
High court overturns Arizona law capping restitution amounts
By Associated Press
Arizona Supreme Court overturns Arizona law capping restitution amounts
PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona Supreme Court on May 4 overturned a state law limiting restitution awards for economic losses caused by certain criminal driving offenses that cause another person to be killed or seriously injured.
The 2006 law imposing a $10,000 cap on criminal restitution in those cases violated a right to prompt and full restitution under Victims’ Bill of Rights protections in the Arizona Constitution, according to the court ruling.
The justices upheld a Court of Appeals decision that reversed a Maricopa County Superior Court judge’s ruling that set a man’s restitution order at $10,000, down from the over $61,000 amount set by a Phoenix Municipal Court judge.
Originally published on January 22, 2021 3:09 pm
As of October last year, Oregon stopped automatically suspending people’s driver’s licenses if they didn’t pay a traffic citation in time. But previous suspensions are still in force.
Tracy Chavez of Bend has had her license suspended for over 26 years because of a traffic citation issued in Phoenix.
“That made it hard to find a job, to get her kids to where they needed to go, to go to the grocery store to buy food,” says her attorney, Emily Teplin Fox of the Oregon Law Center. “And like a lot of people, she accumulated additional fees and fines and saw the amounts she owed balloon.”
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The small Southern Oregon town of Phoenix is taking the lead in dismissing old traffic court debt, which can often haunt low-income people for years.
As of October last year, Oregon stopped automatically suspending people’s driver’s licenses if they didn’t pay a traffic citation in time. But previous suspensions are still in force.
Tracy Chavez of Bend has had her license suspended for over 26 years because of a traffic citation issued in Phoenix.
“That made it hard to find a job, to get her kids to where they needed to go, to go to the grocery store to buy food,” says her attorney, Emily Teplin Fox of the Oregon Law Center. “And like a lot of people, she accumulated additional fees and fines and saw the amounts she owed balloon.”