“Living in the Motor City and not having a motor vehicle sucks”, says a Detroit resident in the short film, Road to Restoration: Michigan. In cities and towns across the U.S., where public transit is limited and driving is essential, a single unpaid ticket can spiral into a suspended license, court debt, and even incarceration. This film shares the voices of individuals in the Detroit area whose lives were derailed by fines and fees—while spotlighting local efforts led by lawyers, judges, community advocates, and private businesses working together to restore not just licenses, but dignity and freedom.
This video is a part of Fined Out, a multimedia project that exposes how unjust fines and fees punish poverty to raise revenue—and how communities are fighting back against a system designed to keep them paying.
