THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507140010
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Is it constitutional or not - Virginia's law requiring administrative suspension for seven days of the license of a motorist charged with drunken driving?
Two state judges - one in Richmond, one in Henrico County - having ruled differently on the question, Attorney General James S. Gilmore III and Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Toby Vick have asked the Virginia Supreme Court to settle the question.
The Richmond judge ruled that the suspension is a punishment for drunken driving, not, as the state contends, remedial action to protect public safety from intoxicated drivers. If it is punishment, says the Richmond judge, a subsequent trial on the drunken-driving charge exposes the defendant to a second punishment for the same offense. The U.S. Constitution forbids double jeopardy.
Mr. Gilmore and Mr. Vick want the Virginia Supreme Court to dispel quickly the cloud that the Richmond judge's ruling casts over administrative suspension by taking up the case forthwith instead of have it first be argued and decided by the Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals. Conflicting opinions from the bench will thwart the will of state lawmakers who, at the behest of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other groups like it, legislated administrative suspension to speed removal of drunken drivers from the roads.
The sooner the conflict is resolved, the better. If the administrative-suspension law is unconstitutional, the General Assembly can remedy the defect at its next session.
No administrative-suspension law need be defective. The U.S. Supreme Court some years ago approved state administrative-suspension laws meeting its constitutional tests. The laws passing muster protect motorists' rights, as does Virginia's, by assuring due process of law when licenses are suspended administratively.
Administrative suspension seems too harsh to many, but it saves lives in states that have it. Virginia has joined their number belatedly. We trust that Virginia's law is constitutionally sound. But since doubt about its constitutionality has been raised, it is well to expedite a hearing on the matter. by CNB