Articles for Marsha McLeod

May 21

2019

The cost of suspending driver’s licenses

A “staggering” number of motorists across the state, including Western New York, lose their driver’s license every year. The state suspends more than a half-million annually; the count in Erie County approaches 26,000. Drivers can lose their license without violating traffic laws. Failure to pay state taxes or make child support payments are among the offenses that can result in a driver losing their license. Still, nearly two-thirds of suspensions result from the failure to pay traffic tickets or show up in court in response to getting one. In theory, losing a license keeps drivers off the road. But national studies[...]

Posted 6 years ago

May 9

2019

Legislators propose changes on traffic laws

In just over two years, New York State issued nearly 1.7 million driver’s license suspensions to more than 620,000 drivers — a disproportionate number of them poor, people of color or both. These suspensions were not the result of reckless or drunken driving, or other dangerous behavior; they were slapped on drivers who failed to pay a traffic ticket fine or show up for a court date over it. These numbers come from an analysis released on Wednesday by Driven By Justice, a statewide coalition that worked with state Sen. Tim Kennedy on a bill to end the practice of[...]

Posted 6 years ago

May 1

2019

Buffalo lags on addressing lead poisoning

Hundreds of young children living in Buffalo’s inner-city neighborhoods continue to be diagnosed every year with lead poisoning. And City Hall continues to do next to nothing about it. “Buffalo has not made as much progress as other communities have and not as much progress as perhaps they could,” said Andrew McLellan, president of Environmental Education Associates, which trains contractors and others to recognize and remediate lead hazards. Thirteen months ago, the Center for Governmental Research, a consulting firm in Rochester, developed an action plan with 19 recommendations for the city, county and state to adopt. The county has[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Mar 5

2019

A changing tide on license suspensions

New York is one of at least 41 states that suspend drivers’ licenses if they fail to pay traffic fines. In 2016, the state Department of Motor Vehicles issued 53,648 suspension or revocation orders to drivers in Erie County, according to data obtained Investigative Post. This captures suspensions issued for any reason, but experts said the vast majority are related to traffic tickets. “Suspending a license is a patently absurd remedy to someone who can’t pay traffic tickets,” Blake Strode, the executive director of ArchCity Defenders, a civil rights law firm based in Missouri, told Investigative Post. New York’s practice[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Mar 5

2019

McLeod talks traffic tickets on Press Pass

Marsha McLeod reported last month on traffic tickets and related fees in the city of Buffalo. She discussed the story with Jay Moran on WBFO’s Press Pass.

Posted 6 years ago

Feb 27

2019

City Hall cashing in on traffic tickets

First, City Hall talked the state into allowing it to keep most of the money from traffic tickets issued by Buffalo police. Police then started handing out tickets in record numbers, jumping from around 32,000 in the year before the Buffalo Traffic Violations Agency was created in 2015 to more than 52,000 the year after. Since then, police have written far more tickets for tinted windows than for speeding or running red lights and stop signs. Revenues soared accordingly—up from around $500,000 in the year before the traffic agency was created, to more than $2.8 million in the fiscal[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Jan 14

2019

Investigation begins into deadly cop shooting

The father of a man fatally shot by a Buffalo police officer last month has retained two law firms to investigate his son’s death. The firms, Neufeld Scheck & Brustin in New York City and Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin in Rochester, are both well-known for their work on civil rights cases. A representative of the New York City firm said the investigation is underway. The firm describes itself as “taking on only a small number of important cases.” On Dec. 11, Officer Joseph Meli, 25, shot Marcus Neal three times—twice in the abdomen and once in the leg—after police said[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Dec 20

2018

Erie County legislators back bail reform

Erie County lawmakers became the first county legislature in New York State to take a legislative position in support of reforms to the bail system, following a unanimous vote Thursday. Reform efforts in the state Legislature failed earlier this year and advocates are expected to press the issue in the coming session that begins in January. “Resolutions like this are essential to demonstrate to Albany that a world of people are behind good governance and good governance means bail reform,” said John Curr III, western region director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “This shows the will of Erie County, and[...]

Posted 6 years ago