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Friday, December 11, 2009
Ind. Decisions - "Supreme Court considers driver's license suit"
Oral argument was heard yesterday before the Supreme Court in the case of Leone v. Commissioner Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). Here is the ILB summary of the 2-1, May 15, 2009 Court of Appeals opinion.
Here is AP political writer Mike Smith's widely syndicated story. Some quotes:
The high court heard oral arguments in a class-action lawsuit that claims the BMV's policy of revoking licenses solely on the basis of such mismatched information is beyond its authority and is taking a legal entitlement from thousands of people."A legal name is not necessarily what is on Social Security records," Ken Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, told the justices. The ACLU of Indiana is representing about 15,000 people in the lawsuit.
Falk said many people have legally changed their names, in some cases because they got married, and have not or cannot change their names with the Social Security Administration. He said Indiana law only requires that a driver's license contain a legal name.
The BMV contends the policy that took effect in November 2007 is legal and designed to weed out or prevent identity fraud. It says 45 other states have similar verification policies.
"Indiana used to be a magnet for people getting fraudulent ID's," Frances Barrow, a state deputy attorney general, told the court.
Justice Robert Rucker asked Barrow what statutory authority the BMV had to establish such a policy. Barrow said state law gives the agency broad discretion to ensure its records are accurate, and doing so through Social Security information was an efficient way of doing that.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 11, 2009 10:34 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions