Check License Suspended
Make sure to check if your license was suspended or not when charged with a DUI. When a driver is arrested he is supposed to be given a choice of a breath or blood alcohol level test.
If (1) a breath test indicates higher than your state's specified percentage of blood-alcohol or more, or (2) a blood (or, if neither breath nor blood are available, urine) is taken for later analysis, or (3) the individual refuses to submit to chemical testing, his driver's license is immediately confiscated by the police (unless it is an out-of-state license) and he is issued a pink sheet of paper. This paper serves as (1) a formal notice of immediate license suspended, (2) a temporary license valid for 30 days and (3) a technical explanation of the laws and procedures involved.
It is essential to check if your driver's license was suspended. If this is a first offense, the license will be suspended for 4 months. This can be reduced to 1 month followed by 5 months of work restriction if the individual files proof of enrollment in a DUI school and proof of insurance (the "SR-22" form). If the case involves a refusal to submit to chemical testing, the suspension is for 1 year; no work restriction is possible.
A 2nd offense within 10 years carries a 1-year suspension, 2 years if a refusal. The individual or his attorney has ten days within which to call to check the Drivers Safety Office of the department of motor vehicles to contest the suspension at an administrative hearing. This is called the Administrative License Suspension ("ALS"). This "ALS" suspension is based upon the so-called "implied consent" laws: any person driving is "presumed" to impliedly consent to chemical testing if he is suspected of drunk driving.
It would certainly seem, however, that the procedure violates the U.S. Constitution. First, there appears to be a presumption of guilt and lack of due process: the officer is judge, jury and executioner. Second, it would seem to constitute "double jeopardy": the individual is being charged with a criminal offense and punished (including a license restriction) in court — and then is accused in a separate proceeding and punished again with a license suspension.
The courts, however, have used strained logic in concluding that one is criminal and the other administrative — a license suspension is simply an "administrative sanction", not a "punishment".
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