Right direction

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is recommending a major and welcome change to California traffic court: transferring responsibility for the more than 4 million minor traffic violations to civil, not criminal, court.

Drivers snagged on minor violations, ranging from a broken taillight to speeding, would no longer face penalties that can be as serious as a criminal record. In return for the change, the state would have an easier time proving violations. The necessary evidence in civil court is less than what’s required in criminal court.

Drunken driving would not be included for lesser penalties under the proposal, which came from a judicial panel Cantil-Sakauye chairs called the Commission on the Future of California’s Court System.

The panel will forward its recommendations to the state Legislature, some of whose members have already been seeking to lessen license suspensions and other punitive matters for offending drivers.

To understand the potentially seismic impact of such a shift, consider why the judicial panel was convened.

In 2015, 4.2 million Californians had their licenses suspended due to a failure to pay traffic fines and penalties.

California has some of the highest traffic fees and fines in the country. The state also has a high poverty rate, so the unfortunate yet expected result was that poor people suffered most from the penalties. They also suffered disproportionately from the criminal penalties that a judge can levy on offenders who don’t pay.

It’s not a crime to be poor. Removing criminal penalties from traffic court is the right way to end an inequitable situation that has the potential to have devastating consequences for millions of Californians.