Pa. Court Says Mandatory License Suspensions For Drunk Drivers

HARRISBURG – According to a Pennsylvania state court, a Cumberland County judge acted against state regulations when he overturned a five-year driver’s license suspension for a habitual drunken driver.

According to the Commonwealth Court ruling, Judge Thomas A. Placey should not have acted with compassion and should have upheld the suspension against the Maryland woman. The DUI suspect in the case claimed that she had been a crime victim and had been traumatized as a result. The woman said she had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted which lead to her being arrested for DUI three times within six weeks in mid-2011.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation appealed Placey’s decision voiding the five-year license suspension after which the dispute was taken to the state court. According to the Commonwealth Court, the five-year suspensions are mandatory for people with three DUI’s within five years.

Credits: www.SFGate.com