Harold v. Richards
Harold v. Richards
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiffs have filed a proposed class action on behalf of Pennsylvania residents whose driver's licenses are suspended upon conviction of any offense involving controlled substances, under Pennsylvania law, federal, law, or the law of any other state, regardless of whether the offense involved a vehicle or traffic safety.
Plaintiffs allege that the suspension of their driver's licenses violates equal protection because it discriminates against people with drug convictions without a rational *639connection to a legitimate state purpose (Count One); violates procedural due process because it creates an irrebuttable presumption against Plaintiffs, depriving them of their property rights (Count Two); and violates substantive due process because it deprives them of the fundamental right to intrastate travel without being narrowly tailored to achieve a significant government interest (Count Three).
Plaintiffs move for a preliminary injunction and to certify the following class:
All individuals whose Pennsylvania driver's licenses are currently suspended or will be suspended due to a conviction of any offense involving the possession, sale, delivery, offering for sale, holding for sale, or giving away of any controlled substance under the laws of the United States, Pennsylvania, or any other state, pursuant to75 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 1532 (c).4
Defendants move to dismiss the Complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. For the following reasons, the Court will grant the motion to dismiss and dismiss as moot the motions for a preliminary injunction and for class certification.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
Dismissal of a complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is appropriate where a plaintiff's "plain statement" does not possess enough substance to show that plaintiff is entitled to relief.
Something more than a mere possibility of a claim must be alleged; plaintiff must allege "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face."
III. DISCUSSION
Under Pennsylvania law, PennDOT:
shall suspend the operating privilege of any person upon receiving a certified record of the person's conviction of any offense involving the possession, sale, delivery, offering for sale, holding for sale or giving away of any controlled substance under the laws of the United States, this Commonwealth or any other state or any person 21 years of age or younger upon receiving a certified record of the person's conviction or adjudication of delinquency under 18 Pa. C.S. § 2706 (relating to terroristic threats) committed on any school property, including any public school grounds, during any school-sponsored activity or on any conveyance providing transportation to a school entity or school-sponsored activity.
(1) The period of suspension shall be as follows:
(i) For a first offense, a period of six months from the date of the suspension.
(ii) For a second offense, a period of one year from the date of the suspension.
(iii) For a third and any subsequent offense thereafter, a period of two years from the date of the suspension.12
In addition to imposing suspensions for certain traffic offenses, the statute also provides for suspensions of those convicted of certain non-driving related alcohol offenses, including the use of false identification cards.
The challenged part of the statute stems from a federal law that provides that federal funds will be withheld from a state unless the 1) the state has enacted or enforced a law requiring the suspension of an individual's driver's license for at least six months upon conviction of "any drug offense;" or 2) the governor of the state submits a written certification of the governor or an adopted resolution of the legislature expressing opposition to the enactment or enforcement of such a law.
Plaintiffs argue that the statute is invalid on its face.
*641
A. Equal Protection
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that no state shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Although Plaintiffs argue that certain groups are disproportionately affected by the law, they specifically "do not challenge the license suspension scheme as racially discriminatory,"
[R]ational-basis review in equal protection analysis is not a license for court to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic of legislative choices. Nor does it authorize the judiciary to sit as a superlegislature to judge the wisdom or desirability of legislative policy determinations made in areas that neither affect fundamental rights nor proceed along suspect lines. For these reasons, a classification neither involving fundamental rights nor proceeding along suspect lines is accorded a strong presumption of validity. Such a classification cannot run afoul of the Equal Protection Clause if there is a *642rational relationship between the disparity of treatment and some legitimate governmental purpose. Further, a legislature that creates these categories need not actually articulate at any time the purpose or rationale supporting its classification. Instead, a classification must be upheld against equal protection challenge if there is any reasonably conceivable state of facts that could provide a rational basis for the classification.
A State, moreover, has no obligation to produce evidence to sustain the rationality of a statutory classification. A legislative choice is not subject to courtroom factfinding and may be based on rational speculation unsupported by evidence or empirical data. A statute is presumed constitutional, and the burden is on the one attacking the legislative arrangement to negative every conceivable basis which might support it, whether or not the basis has a foundation in the record. Finally, courts are compelled under rational-basis review to accept a legislature's generalizations even when there is an imperfect fit between means and ends. A classification does not fail rational-basis review because it is not made with mathematical nicety or because in practice it results in some inequality. The problems of government are practical ones and may justify, if they do not require, rough accommodations - illogical, it may be, and unscientific.31
Thus, as long as the standard of rationality "finds[s] some footing in the realities of the subject addressed by the legislation," it will be upheld.
Plaintiffs allege that they are similarly situated to all people convicted of crimes but are treated differently because of legislative animus against drug crimes.
The "legislative classification must be sustained, if the classification itself is rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest."
B. Due Process
The Fourteenth Amendment also provides that no state shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
1. Procedural Due Process
Plaintiffs allege that they have a property interest in their ability to drive, that the license suspension occurs automatically, without any process at all, and that the suspension does not determine "which people with drug convictions fit criteria related to the state's interest in regulating driving."
[T]he Due Process Clause applies to the deprivation of a driver's license by the State: "Suspension of issued licenses ... involves state action that adjudicates important interests of the licensees. In such cases the licenses are not to be taken away without that procedural due process required by the Fourteenth Amendment."47
The amount of process that must be afforded depends upon the circumstances, and the Supreme Court has held that a pre-revocation hearing is not required where the licensee "had the opportunity for a full judicial hearing in connection with each of the traffic convictions on which the [revocation] decision was based," and had not "challenged the validity of the those convictions or the adequacy of his procedural rights at the time they were determined."
With regard to the suspension process itself, Pennsylvania law provides that any person "whose operating privilege has been ... suspended ... shall have the right to appeal" to the Pennsylvania state courts.
2. Substantive Due Process
Plaintiffs allege they have a fundamental substantive due process right to local, or intrastate, travel, and have been "deprived of their ability to reliably travel by automobile" to accomplish essential tasks, which cannot feasibly be done by other modes of transportation.
IV. CONCLUSION
The Court in no way minimizes the burdens imposed by the suspension of a driver's license, and Plaintiffs raise strong policy arguments against continued enforcement of the Pennsylvania statute that they may raise with the Governor and the legislature.
Compl. [Doc. No. 1] ¶ 6 (citing 75 Pa. Const. Stat. Ann. § 1532(c) ).
Compl. at 34-35.
Compl. at 35.
Pls.' Mot. Class. Certif. [Doc. No. 3] at 1.
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly ,
Winer Family Trust v. Queen ,
ALA, Inc. v. CCAIR, Inc. ,
Twombly ,
75 Pa.C.S. § 1532(c).
75 Pa.C.S. §§ 1532(b), (d).
Compl. ¶ 109. Plaintiffs also allege that the federal statute "was motivated by animus toward low-level drug offenders." Compl. ¶ 108.
Pls.' Opp. Mot Dismiss [Doc. No. 33] at 2.
Comp. ¶ 30.
Compl. ¶¶ 34-36.
Compl. ¶ 53.
Compl. ¶¶ 54-55. The Complaint does not specifically allege that each arrest resulted in a conviction.
Compl. ¶ 56.
U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1.
Compl. ¶¶ 92-93.
Compl. ¶ 88-89.
Compl. ¶¶ 98-99.
Compl. ¶ 102, 106.
Compl. ¶ 120.
Compl. ¶ 118.
Nat'l Ass'n for the Advancement of Multijurisdiction Practice v. Castille ,
Newark Cab Ass'n v. City of Newark ,
Heller v. Doe ,
United States Department of Agriculture v. Moreno ,
United States v. Windsor ,
Plaintiffs also argue that the statute is irrational because by including suspensions for convictions under the laws of other states, it "was written to punish drug activity not considered illegal by the Commonwealth." Pls.' Opp. Mot. Dismiss at 7. Plaintiffs do not allege that they have such convictions from other states, or that other states criminalize activity related to illegal narcotics that Pennsylvania does not.
New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer ,
Pls.' Opp. Mot. Dismiss at 3. Plaintiffs analogize the classification to a zoning ordinance barring a group home for those with mental disabilities struck down by the Supreme Court in City of Cleburne, Texas v. Cleburne Living Center ,
Pennsylvania House of Representatives Regular Session, Reg. Sess. No. 76, 173 General Assembly at 2101-05 (Dec. 12, 1989) (rejecting proposed amendment to allow discretion in imposing suspensions despite concerns of some legislators that the suspensions would be more burdensome upon those in rural areas without access to public transportation). The legislative history cited by Plaintiffs with regard to a 1999 amendment to the statute related only to the suspension of licenses for threats at schools. Pennsylvania Senate Regular Session, PA. S. Jour., 199 Reg. Sess. No. 27, 183rd General Assembly (May 4, 1999).
Moreno ,
Shoul v. Commonwealth, Dep't of Transp. ,
U.S. Const. amend. XIV.
Shoats v. Horn ,
Holland v. Rosen ,
Compl. ¶¶ 127-128 (emphasis omitted).
The Court notes that Mr. Williams had a learner's permit, not a license, but will assume for purposes of the motion to dismiss that he had a protected property interest.
Dixon v. Love ,
Id. at 113,
The law provides for a stay of suspension upon request while an appeal from a criminal conviction is pending. 75 Pa. C.S. § 1555.
75 Pa. C.S. § 1550(a).
75 Pa. C.S. § 1550(b)(1)(i).
Rutkowski v. Commonwealth of Pa. ,
See Degrossi v. Commonwealth of Pa. ,
See Defs.' Mot. Dismiss [Doc. No. 29] Exs. A-B. The Court may consider the notices of suspension as they were expressly referenced in the Complaint.
Alvin v. Suzuki ,
McDaniel v. Collins ,
Compl. ¶¶ 131-34.
Lutz v. City of York ,
McCool v. City of Phila. ,
Maldonado v. Houstoun ,
Miller v. Reed ,
Indeed, although they focus on intrastate travel, Plaintiffs allege in the Complaint that the statute impinges upon their right to both interstate and intrastate travel. Compl. ¶ 9.
Fowler v. Johnson , No. 17-11441,
It appears that the Pennsylvania General Assembly is considering legislation on these issues See Pennsylvania House Bill 163 and House Resolution 76 (text and history available at http://www.legis.state.pa.us).
Brian B. v. Commonwealth of Pa. Dep't of Educ. ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Russell HAROLD and Sean Williams, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated v. Leslie RICHARDS, in her official capacity as Secretary of Transportation of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Leo Bagley, in his official capacity as Executive Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Kurt Myers, in his official Capacity as Deputy Secretary for Driver and Vehicle Services of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Tom Wolf, in his official capacity as Governor of Pennsylvania
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published