Because of these alternative ways to pay court costs and fees, Eckson said claims of discrimination against poorer residents are unsubstantiated.

“Losing a license may cause a significant burden but it does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation,” she said. “The debtors here are eligible for the same exceptions as everyone else; no exemptions have been removed.”

Jonathan Blank, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, disagreed with the defense argument that suspended licenses are not discriminatory. Earlier expert testimony showed that license suspensions disproportionately affect poorer residents.

“There are close to one million Virginians without a license because of court debt people are too poor to pay,” he said.

Describing license suspension as a “constitutional crisis,” Blank said the DMV is using “coercion” to collect state debt in a way that a private debt collector could not.

There are no grounds to dismiss the suit, he said.

“It is crystal clear that we allege facts to support each claim in the suit,” he said. “Our filings are chock-full of arguments supporting that.”