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For years, criminal charges for Driving While License Suspended (DWLS) have been one of the most challenging “poverty traps.” The charges, for the low-level nonviolent DWLS offense, often lead to people losing their jobs, their housing, and community connections.

By delaying prosecuting appropriate DWLS cases to give the driver a chance to pay overdue fines and restore his or her license, prosecutors can hold the driver accountable, fix the underlying problem, and not set the driver into a downward spiral of poverty and incarceration.

Since 2017, we have prioritized traffic safety when prosecuting offenders for Driving with License Suspended cases. We will hold defendants accountable using DWLS charges in situations where the suspension was ordered for a traffic-related offense that jeopardizes safety, such as cases where someone is hurt or property is damaged, Driving Under the Influence, or violating commercial driver’s license laws.

Focusing on safety

But many license suspensions are not related to traffic safety at all—instead, they result from an inability to pay civil fines and fees. Because of this, many Floridians are trapped in a cycle of driving without a license so they can earn money to reinstate their license.

This is a vicious cycle. It puts otherwise law-abiding citizens into the criminal justice system because of financial hardship. That approach is counterproductive, wasteful, and undermines public safety. Prosecution worsens the problem by imposing additional fines and threatening their job security.

Starting when he took office in 2017, State Attorney Warren implemented this approach to DWLS charges, which increases traffic safety by ensuring drivers are properly licensed and insured. Drivers successfully regain their licenses, and then our office dismisses the charges, providing an added incentive for drivers to take the steps needed to get their license back while reducing the criminalization of poverty.

What does the data story tell us?

Through our continued commitment to this approach, our office has dismissed more than 7,000 cases since 2017 because defendants met the requirements to regain their licenses.

[INSERT CHART – DWLS cases dismissed after driver regained license]

Our data illustrates that this approach is having a significant impact on removing this “poverty trap” and decriminalizing poverty. In 2019, approximately 41% of DWLS cases were resolved because a driver became licensed again—in 2016, that figure was just 4%.

This tremendous increase has removed an unnecessary government-imposed hurdle from people’s lives, achieved safer roads, saved taxpayers money, and delivered compassion for people who are struggling to make ends meet.

The State Attorney’s Office does not file charges in every case that is referred to it for prosecution. Even after an arrest is made, a prosecutor can decline to file charges. Additionally, if our office does file charges, we can later dismiss those charges.

These declinations and dismissals occur for a variety of reasons: discovery of new evidence, witnesses changing testimony, witnesses who refuse to cooperate or cannot be contacted, victims deciding they don’t want to go forward, and legal issues such as the admissibility of evidence or the appropriateness of a search or traffic stop.

As we make every effort to support victims of crime, it is important that a victim’s race or ethnicity does not impact the outcome of their case. The rate of how often cases are dismissed should be similar for victims of all racial and ethnic groups.

To ensure we are achieving that objective, our office can use the data from our new Data Dashboard to track whether the dismissal rate for each group is close to the overall average of all cases.

What does the data story tell us?

Over the past three years, case dismissals involving Hispanic victims have stayed quite close to the overall average, with Hispanic victims being only 1% more likely to have their cases dismissed. However, Black victims have been 6% more likely than average to have their cases dismissed compared to the overall average.

[INSERT CHART – Dismissed cases of victims compared to overall average by race]

[INSERT CHART – Dismissed cases of victims compared to overall average by ethnicity]

Determining the causes

The discrepancy between Black victims and overall victims is an example of a discrepancy that our office likely would not have noticed until we created our Data Dashboard. The numbers are not strikingly high, so individual prosecutors may not have spotted the issue. But now, looking at the data, we can see the discrepancy does exist, and that gives us the opportunity to analyze it and consider ways to address it.

Higher dismissal rates for cases with Black victims may indicate that additional efforts need to be made to engage Black victims, identify obstacles to Black victims seeking justice in the criminal justice system, and develop solutions.

Ultimately, a prosecutor should only move forward with a case if he or she believes the defendant can be proven guilty and prosecution is in the interest of public safety—because of this, sometimes dismissing a case is the right decision. Each case must be reviewed individually, and decisions should be based on that specific situation. However, a strong prosecutor’s office will also look at the larger trends that show through the data and take steps to achieve its overall goal of fair outcomes for everyone.

We want to do everything we can to make sure a child’s first encounter with the justice system is their last. With that over-arching goal in mind, the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office has implemented several reforms and new procedures since State Attorney Warren took office in January 2017 that are designed to keep our community safe while putting our kids on the best path to success.

Our office worked with our community’s other criminal justice stakeholders to expand and make permanent in Hillsborough County the Juvenile Arrest Avoidance Program (JAAP), commonly called the Juvenile Civil Citation program. Under JAAP, low-level first-time juvenile offenders qualify for a civil citation instead of an arrest. They face consequences for their actions without the permanent mark of an arrest that would impede their futures.

All but five misdemeanor offenses are eligible for a civil citation. Our belief—along with our partners across our community’s justice system—is that issuing juvenile civil citations for cases that meet the qualifications is an evidence-based, smart alternative to arrest and detention. Here’s why:

• It allows a child to learn from a mistake without an arrest record hampering his or her future
• It disrupts the school-to-prison pipeline
• It works: Research shows arrested youth are twice as likely to reoffend compared to youth who receive civil citations or enter a diversion program
• It saves taxpayer dollars
  • Prosecuting a juvenile case costs about $5,000
  • Incarcerating a juvenile costs about $55,000 a year
  • Enrolling a juvenile in the civil citation program costs about $400

What does the data story tell us?

From 2016 to 2019, we see a significant 34% reduction in juvenile arrests referred to the State Attorney’s Office by law enforcement agencies. During that same time, the number of civil citations issued has increased by a sizable 42%.

[INSERT CHART – Juvenile arrests referred to SAO]

[INSERT CHART – Juvenile Civil Citations for low-level first-time offenders]

The drop in juvenile arrests can be attributed to several factors. The availability and preference for civil citations is a key element. Other factors that have reduced juvenile arrests are changes in the ways schools handle student discipline, as well as expanded options for diversion programs that do not result in an arrest or prosecution if the program is completed successfully.

Expanding the Juvenile Civil Citation program

Data gathered in 2019 and 2020 showed the partners in the JAAP that too many of the youth who qualified for a civil citation were instead still being arrested; some hurdles still stood in the way. The partners, including the State Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, local law enforcement, and the 13th Judicial Circuit court system, implemented changes in September 2020 with the aim of eliminating some of the most difficult hurdles.

Beginning in September 2020:

• Parental consent is no longer mandatory for a juvenile to qualify for the JAAP
• When the arrest of a juvenile under 12 is being considered, the law enforcement officer must consult with a supervisor to discuss other options. Preference should be given to the JAAP.

The results of these changes should become visible in data starting in late 2020 and into 2021.

Reducing the number of juveniles charged as adults

In addition, State Attorney Warren created a policy that requires all Assistant State Attorneys to be more selective in charging children as adults. Deciding to charge a juvenile as an adult should be done with great care and only in limited situations where the adult-level system is best suited to deal with the situation. Charging a juvenile as an adult is also known as a direct file.

From 2016 to 2019, juvenile direct files came down substantially, by 69%. These changes still allow for adult charges when appropriate, but also keep more children in the juvenile system, which is better designed to create opportunities to set youth back on the right path.

[INSERT CHART – Juveniles charged as adults by SAO]

Next steps for juvenile justice reform

Beyond the data points outlined above, the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office continues to take more steps to improve outcomes for juveniles. Our office is working on long-term community partnerships to close Achievement Gaps for minority groups, working beyond the justice system with the aim of keeping kids from ever entering the system.

We are also taking steps to decriminalize poverty, which improves opportunities for all families with children, including reforming how we handle “poverty traps” like costly criminal charges for driving with a suspended license.