Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

The DMV was notified by the court that you failed to make the payments on your fines. The DMV then suspended your license. Until you either pay off the fines and the hold is lifted OR the court lifts the hold prior to that, the DMV won't clear your license.

I assume the fines got that high because you have multiple failures to appear or failures to pay which tacked on the $300 civil assessment fines on top of the base fines. They can add up quickly.

If you've already seen the judge for these, they are unlikely to lift the hold on your license prior to getting them paid off, but you can always try. The alternative is to beg/borrow the entire amount from a friend/relative, pay off the court and get your license back, then work your tail off to repay your friend/relative.

DMV has their own rules and regulations. If they told you what it takes to get your license re-issued, then that is what you will have to do. The judge already told you that. You have no reason to think either government agency was 'wrong' in their statements to you. Talk again to DMV to make sure you didn't mis understand their position and what is required of you.