Thornhill v. Kirkman
| Decision Date | 16 January 1953 |
| Parties | THORNHILL v. KIRKMAN, Director of the Department of Public Safety, et al. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Coe & Coe, Pensacola, for appellant.
James Whitehurst, Brooksville, for appellees.
Appellant brought suit in equity to enjoin the suspension of his driver's license. The complaint alleged that appellant was involved in an automobile accident; that he was driving on the wrong side of the road at night; that the accident resulted in the death of another party; that no adjudication of guilt had been made, but that without notice or hearing appellee had found that he had 'committed an offense for which mandatory revocation of license is required upon coveiction in manslaughter, and had therefore demanded that he surrender his license, the same having as they claimed, been properly suspended.'
A motion to dismiss and an answer alleged that the bill was without equity; that the suspension was legally made; that 'defendants are without knowledge as to guilt or innocence of said manslaughter charge, but that the license had been nevertheless suspended because plaintiff' 'Has committed an offense for which mandatory revocation of license is required upon conviction--Manslaughter.' It was also alleged that appellee had acted in pursuance of law and that no request for hearing had been made by appellant. The chancellor granted the motion to dismiss and this appeal was prosecuted.
The point for determination is whether or not the Director of Public Safety may suspend one's driver's license for a period of one year without notice, on information that the person whose license is suspended was involved in an automobile accident, resulting in the death of another.
In suspending said license the Director of the Department of Public Safety proceeded under Section 322.27(1)(b), F.S.A., as follows:
'(1) The department is hereby authorized to suspend the license of an operator or chauffeur without preliminary hearing upon a showing by its records or other sufficient evidence that the licensee:
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'(b) Has been involved as a driver in any accident resulting in the death or personal injury of another or serious property damage.'
Appellant contends that the right to travel and operate a conveyance on the public highways is a common right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution and Section 12, Declaration of Rights, State Constitution, which requires notice and a chance to be heard before it can be taken away. Thompson v. Smith, 155 Va. 367, 154 S.E. 579, 71 A.L.R. 604; Fiehe v. R. E. Householder Co., 98 Fla. 627, 125 So. 2, and similar cases are relied on to support this contention.
Appellee contends on the other hand that the Director of Public Safety was acting pursuant to legislative authority under which a drivers license is nothing more than a privilege to use the public highways as a convenience to transport goods and passengers, and that it may be denied conditionally when the user becomes a menace to the public. The quoted statute and the following cases are relied on to support this contention. 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, § 131, page 437; People v. Cohen, 128 Misc. 29, 217 N.Y.S. 726; National Cab Company v. Kunze, 182 Minn. 152, 233 N.W. 838; Yellow Cab Taxi Service v. City of Twin Falls, 68 Idaho 145, 190 P.2d 681; Department of Public Safety v. Robertson, Tex.Civ.App., 203 S.W.2d 950; People v. Stryker, 124 Misc. 1, 206 N.Y.S. 146; 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, § 160, page 486.
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Bradsheer v. Dept. of Highway Safety
...the holder thereof with an absolute property right in the use of the public highway." Smith, 93 So.2d at 106 (citing Thornhill v. Kirkman, 62 So.2d 740 (Fla. 1953)) ("While in Carnegie v. Department of Public Safety, Fla.1952, 60 So.2d 728, we held that a driver's license cannot be revoked ......
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Lynch v. Public Service Commission of State of Nevada
...legal entitlement without a hearing is permissible if a pre-revocation of the entitlement hearing is afforded, citing Thornhill v. Kirkman, 62 So.2d 740, 742 (Fla.1953), and 1 Davis, Administrative Law, p. 439. Suffice to say that concept is so utterly eroded by subsequent holdings of the U......
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Bolware v. State
...Historically, Florida courts have viewed a license to drive on our state roads as a privilege, not a right. See Thornhill v. Kirkman, 62 So.2d 740, 742 (Fla.1953) ("We think there is ample warrant for the legislature to treat a driver's license as privilege, subject to suspension or revocat......
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State Bd. of Medical Examiners v. Weiner
...Wis. 184, 284 N.W. 458 (Sup.Ct.1933); S.S. Pike Co. v. City of New York, 169 Misc. 109, 6 N.Y.S.2d 957 (Sup.Ct.1938); Thornhill v. Kirkman, 62 So.2d 740 (Fla.Sup.Ct.1953); Commonwealth v. Walkinshaw, 373 Pa. 419, 96 A.2d 384 (Sup.Ct.1953). It should be noted that none of the foregoing cases......