Cummings v. D.C. Dep't of Motor Vehicles
| Citation | 294 A.3d 121 |
| Docket Number | 21-AA-0821 |
| Decision Date | 18 May 2023 |
| Parties | Christopher CUMMINGS, Petitioner, v. District of Columbia DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, Respondent. |
| Court | D.C. Court of Appeals |
Chesseley A. Robinson, Raleigh, NC, for petitioner.
Stacey L. Anderson, Senior Assistant Attorney General, with whom Karl A. Racine, Attorney General for the District of Columbia at the time the brief was filed, Caroline Van Zile, Solicitor General, Ashwin P. Phatak, Principal Deputy Solicitor General, and Carl J. Schifferle, Deputy Solicitor General, were on the brief, for respondent.
Before Deahl and Howard, Associate Judges, and Thompson, Senior Judge.
Petitioner Christopher Cummings seeks review of a decision by the Director of the District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles (the "DMV") upholding a DMV notice that announced Mr. Cummings's lifetime disqualification from holding a commercial driver's license ("CDL"). The DMV concedes in its brief that a remand is in order for the Director to modify Mr. Cummings's disqualification so that he is eligible for possible reinstatement after 10 years (as described in 18 D.C.M.R. § 1306.4(b)(1)-(3) ).1 But Mr. Cummings also challenges, on several grounds, the validity of his disqualification for any period of time based on his non-commercial-vehicle ("non-CMV") driving record and on a DMV regulation ( 18 D.C.M.R. § 1306 ) that he contends conflicts with the relevant statute ( D.C. Code § 50-406 ).
We remand to the DMV for it to modify Mr. Cummings's disqualification to specify that he will be eligible to seek reinstatement of his CDL after 10 years. For the reasons discussed below, we otherwise affirm the Director's decision.
The Uniform Classification and Commercial Driver's License Act of 1990 ("UCCDLA"), D.C. Law 8-161, 37 D.C. Reg. 4665 (codified at D.C. Code §§ 50-401 to - 409 ), was enacted by the Council of the District of Columbia (the "Council") "to bring the District into compliance with the federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 [("CMVSA"), Pub. L. No. 99-570, 100 Stat. 3207, originally codified at 49 U.S.C. app. § 2701-2716 (1988); currently codified as amended at 49 U.S.C. §§ 31308 - 31317 ]." D.C. Council Comm. on Pub. Works, Report on Bill 8-505 at 1 (May 9, 1990). Congress had passed the CMVSA to promote uniformity among the States in various aspects of issuance, enforcement of violations, and information-sharing regarding CDLs, and in doing so permitted the Secretary of Transportation to withhold highway funds from States and the District for noncompliance with the "requirements for State participation" in the program of federal funding. 49 U.S.C. app. §§ 2708, 2710 (1988); see 49 U.S.C. § 31311(a). In turn, the Council enacted the UCCDLA to create a CDL program in the District and, of particular importance here, directed the Mayor to "[c]omply with any ... requirement mandated by section 12009 [49 U.S.C. app. § 2708 (1988)]" of the CMVSA (which set out, inter alia, mandated periods of disqualification from operating a commercial motor vehicle for persons found to have committed specified violations). D.C. Code § 50-402(8). As relevant to this appeal, the UCCDLA established a scheme for disqualification of licensees tracking the one found in the federal law. Compare D.C. Code § 50-406(a) - (c) with 49 U.S.C. app. §§ 2707(a)(1)-(2) and 2708(a)(15)-(16). The first sentence of § 50-406(a)(1), which has not been amended since its enactment in 1990, provides that the Mayor "shall disqualify" from the operation of a commercial motor vehicle any person who is found to have committed the offense of "[d]riving a commercial motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance" (emphasis added).
The federal law was amended in 1999 to require the Secretary of Transportation to issue amended regulations that would not only require disqualification of CDL holders who are convicted of alcohol- or drug-related offenses while driving commercial vehicles, but that would also require "disqualification ... from operating a commercial motor vehicle of an individual who holds a [CDL] and who has been convicted of ... a drug or alcohol related offense involving a motor vehicle (other than a commercial motor vehicle)." Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 ("MCSIA"), Pub. L. No. 106-159, § 201(b)(2), 113 Stat. 1748; see 49 U.S.C. § 31310(g). The Secretary's implementing regulation, promulgated in 2002 (see 67 Fed. Reg. 49742 (July 31, 2002) ), is found at 49 C.F.R. § 383.51(b).
In May 2005, the DMV issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the District's CDL regulations to provide, inter alia, for disqualification from holding a CDL for drivers convicted of a drug- or alcohol-related offense involving any vehicle, an update "suggested by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ["FMCSA"] to establish conformity with federal law[.]" 52 D.C. Reg. 5084, 5088 (May 27, 2005). In August 2005, the DMV followed up with the adoption of emergency rules to make the same change (and some other changes) immediate, in advance of anticipated but not-yet-scheduled Council hearings. 52 D.C. Reg. 7831, 7832 (Aug. 12, 2005). The notice of emergency rulemaking explained that the DMV had received notice from the FMCSA that "rulemaking must be in place by September 30, 2005, to avoid ‘sanctions,’ " which the DMV "underst[ood] from discussions with FMCSA" to mean "the withholding of a portion of federal highway funds" for failure to comply with the requirements of the MCSIA. Id. at 7832. The notice stated that immediate rulemaking was required to protect the District's federal highway funds "that are necessary to help ensure the safety of those who travel on the District's roads." Id.
The emergency rulemaking and corresponding final rulemaking promulgated on March 24, 2006, modified 18 D.C.M.R. § 1306.1(a)-(f) to require disqualification if an individual is convicted of one of the enumerated offenses while driving "any vehicle" rather than "a commercial vehicle." 52 D.C. Reg. at 7833; 53 D.C. Reg. 2206, 2207 (Mar. 24, 2006) (). As noted in the notice of final rulemaking, "[o]n March 7, 2006, the Council, by passage of the Commercial Driver's License and International Registration Plan Enforcement Approval Resolution of 2006 (PR 16-613), approved the[ ] final rules" after a public hearing. 53 D.C. Reg. at 2207; see Commercial Driver's License and International Registration Plan Enforcement Approval Resolution of 2006, Proposed Res. 16-613, 53 D.C. Reg. 1959 (Mar. 7, 2006) (adopting Resolution 16-548); D.C. Council Comm. on Pub. Works & the Env't, Report on PR 16-613 at 1 (Feb. 22, 2006) (); 53 D.C. Reg. 629 (Feb. 3, 2006) (public hearing notice). The Council adopted the approval resolution (Resolution 16-548) after hearing testimony from the DMV Director that the "any vehicle" change was "simply a replication of the federal CDL regulations" and was needed "to avoid the withholding of federal funds." Report on PR 16-613 at 3.
On March 27, 2021, the DMV sent Mr. Cummings an Official Disqualification Notice, stating that he was "disqualified from operating a commercial motor vehicle for LIFE" pursuant to 18 D.C.M.R. § 1306.4(c) because he had recently been "convicted of a third major traffic violation while driving a commercial vehicle."2 The Notice listed three convictions: driving under the influence (conviction date of March 4, 2021); operating while impaired (conviction date of May 5, 2016); and driving while license withdrawn (conviction date of April 14, 2016).
Mr. Cummings objected to the Disqualification Notice and demanded that it be rescinded, asserting inter alia, through counsel, that he had "never been convicted of driving a commercial motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol" and had not "committed 2 or more serious traffic violations that involved the operation of a commercial vehicle within a 3 year period." He contended that the Disqualification Notice therefore was issued in contravention of D.C. Code § 50-406, which he asserted prevailed over 18 D.C.M.R. § 1306, the regulation cited by the DMV in the Disqualification Notice. Mr. Cummings also asserted that a lifetime ban on his holding a CDL constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment, that he was deprived of any "meaningful pre-deprivation process," and that the disqualification was disproportionate to his conduct. He petitioned for review by this court after the DMV Director rejected his arguments. Before us, Mr. Cummings advances the same arguments and adds a few additional ones.
The DMV Director rejected Mr. Cummings's argument that the Notice of Disqualification premised on 18 D.C.M.R. § 1306 contravenes D.C. Code § 50-406. Section 50-406(a) provides that the Mayor "shall disqualify from the operation of a commercial motor vehicle any person who is found to have committed any of" several listed offenses, including, as listed in subparagraph (1) "[d]riving a commercial motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance" (emphasis added). By contrast, the DMV regulation set out at 18 D.C.M.R. § 1306.1 states that "[t]he Director shall disqualify a person from operating a commercial vehicle ... if the person ... [i]s convicted of driving any vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance" (emphasis added).
In rejecting Mr. Cummings's objection to the...
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