Temporary Driver’s License DUI Suspension by DMV Admin Per Se During COVID-19
DMV Field offices have closed until further notice. However, DMV Driver Safety Offices are still suspending temporary driver’s license given on the “Pink Sheet” after being accused of drunk driving. At San Diego Defenders, we have an under 21 driver accused of driving at a .01 BAC zero tolerance in which the DMV would suspend his license for ONE YEAR if the DMV rules against him. Another client that is a medical professional stands to lose her license for 4-10 months with a BAC of .08 and contacted by an office while she was parked. We will fight her case with a DMV hearing officer with a few weeks of training and a chip on his shoulder when we raise complicated Constitutional issues such as the 5th Amendment right to Due Process Under the Law. “A fair shake” is what we call it.
Currently, it is next to impossible to obtain a restricted driver’s license under the current rules where our client is entitled to put an IID in her car, enroll in a DUI program, get an SR-22 on file, and pay the $125 re-issue fee even to the DMV. The DMV is not equipped to take online “reissue fees” or accept other forms even if the DUI programs such as MAAC did not close. But they have!
Bottom line, DMV set up a system where they were still suspending licenses, but, there was no way for the drivers to then legally drive.
Our office had such a client with a DMV hearing last week. I objected to the hearing going forward. If the hearing went forward and the license was suspended, my client would be denied Constitutional Due Process because the legal process usually available to legally drive had been taken away by DMV. Furthermore, because the courts are also closed, there was no legitimate way to challenge the DMV suspension with a writ which is a legal challenge to the “ administrative ruling” by the DMV Driver Safety Office in San Diego Superior Court.
We have no idea why DMV would see it as important to keep suspending licenses at a time of pandemic crisis and the process to legally drive is not available, prior to a conviction in a court of law thereby ignoring the presumption of innocence. Does this violate Due Process? The DMV does not seem to provide answers at DMV FAQ’s .
Hopefully, DMV and State lawmakers will use this COVID-19 experience to learn that our system needs to catch up to other States in terms of automation. For too long, California has treated people accused of DUI, but not yet convicted, as pariahs and it seems like the State was intentionally making it as difficult as possible on them to get on with their lives. It is almost as if they were trying to punish the DUI even though, that is the purported purpose of a court of law.
By Daniel Smith
