Tonight the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is responding to a lawsuit. The Southern Poverty Law Center claims the agency is unfairly punishing people with low incomes by suspending drivers licenses over traffic citations. The SPLC claims the practice violates the 14th amendment.

Alabama troopers have suspended around 23,000 licenses for unpaid traffic tickets. According to the lawsuit the state does not have to notify a driver their license has been suspended. The SPLC said this causes additional stresses for people who already can't afford to pay their tickets. One woman agreed with the suit saying it's unfair to those drivers.

"It's a spiral. They get a ticket that they can't pay and they can't pay it because they don't have income and if they lose their license then they maybe can't get to a job and it's a never ending cycle," said Heather Luckay.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency provided us with a statement, "The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is evaluating the SPLC’s serious claims and will issue a statement at the appropriate time and in the appropriate forum. The agency and its leadership have the utmost regard for the constitutional rights of Alabama’s citizens and will continue enforcing Alabama law to protect public safety."

Waay 31 also reached out to the Southern Poverty Law Center for comment but we did not hear back.