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S eptember 20, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
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Oregon Men’s PAC
Why Taking Our Drivers’ Licenses Is Bad Law
I he 68th Oregon Legislature
passed a new law that will suspend
drivers' licenses for '‘failure to pay
child support” It is effective Sep
tember 9th, 1995.
I here isn't enough space here to
explore all the pros and cons o f this
proposal. Besides the common sense
question echoed by Rep. Luke on the
lloor of the House — "If they can't
drive how are they supposed to work
and make a living ’” — it's unfair and
it's unconstitutional. I hat's already
been decided by the high courts o f
this great state.
Anytime you mess with funda
mental liberties, you risk the height
ened scrutiny o f the 14th Amend
ment: "No Stale shall make or en
force any law which shall abridge the
privileges or immunities o f citizens
o f the United States; nor shall any
State deprive any person o f life, lib
erty or property without due process
o f law; nor deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection
o f the laws.”
The fundamental problem o f
equality as we see it is very plain but
rarely addressed: the same piece of
paper that says we have to pay child
support also says the other parent has
to let us see our kids. But the state has
selectively decided which part o f our
court orders it will enforce, the part
with the money in it. The other kind
o f support, the emotional kind we
and our children are very interested
in, is disregarded. And that kind o f
support has been upheld repeatedly
as a liberty interest, too.
Back to HB 2357. Itisnot law to
suspend or withhold licenses for be
ing behind in your child support.
You are prevented from even getting
a hardship permit. This is a harsher
penalty than if you are convicted of
driving drunk. What is the logic be
sides wanting to punish'1
It is often overlooked by many
o f the opposing viewpoint who testi
fied at public hearings for this bill
that this already has the power under
law to put us in prison (nonsupport
has been a Class C felony since 1971)
and take everything we have o f val
ue. This government needs to start
finding out why the money isn’t be
ing paid. Justice Riggs o f the Oregon
Court o f Appeals used to be the pre
siding judge in Multnomah County.
In a m id-80’s interview for a Wil
lamette Week article called “Men on
Trial”, he told the reporter that the
vast majority o f men being prosecut
ed for not paying child support in his
courts simply had no money.
Back to “unconstitutional”.
In 1971 the United States Su
preme Court’s decided in Bell v.
Burson that, regardless o f whether
viewed as a right or a privilege, a
driver’s license is a valuable entitle
ment that cannot be suspended or
revoked without providing the li
cense holder his procedural due pro
cess o f law as required by the Four
teenth Amendment. Due process in
this context requires that, prior to any
suspension, the license holder has to
be given a notice o f intent to suspend
and notice o f the availability o f a
hearing. Also, due process requires
that, if requested, the licensee must
be given a hearing “appropriate to
the circumstances” prior to any sus
pension
In 1976 our Court o f Appeals
recognized Bell v. Burson in Floyd
v. Motor Vehicles Division. It ech
oed much o f the above protections.
Floyd added that a government agen
cy cannot “unilaterally determine
facts decisive o f important entitle
ments" if it is going to operate con
sistent with due process.
1973’s Josephine Co. Sch. Dist.
v. OSAA included a footnote which
quoted the U S. Supreme Court in
Kent v. Dulles ( 1947). In discussing
the right to travel, the highest court of
the land observed: “ Freedom of
movement is basic to our scheme of
values”, and is a liberty that emerged
as early as the Magna Charta. It’s a
trademark o f all free societies.
State v. Norton, (1982) distin
guished Bell in this way:
Unique Oregon Traffic Signs To Come Down r '
eral Highway Administration decid
ed against adopting them as a nation
al standard in the Manual o f Uniform
Traffic Control Devices.”
Williams said there are some in
herent problems with using the signs.
“Even though the signs do pro
vide a convenience to motorists, they
do not clearly define the proper right-
of-way for drivers approaching an
intersection from other directions.
This can also cause confusion for
pedestrians and bicyclists using the
intersection. Motorists viewing one
o f these signs with the accompany
ing stop sign are presented with con
flicting messages. Safety consider
ations demand that every sign we
place in an intersection be as clear
and easy to understand as possible,”
Williams said.
Only in Oregon will you find
signs posted at certain intersections
chat read "right turn permitted with
out stopping.” But those signs will
not be in place much longer, accord
ing to state traffic engineer Brant
Williams.
" I hese signs are a true Oregon
anomaly. To our knowledge, no oth
er state ever used this kind ofcontrol,
and now, with more motorists from
out-of-state visiting than ever be
low we re concerned that visitors
may become confused by the signs,”
Williams ypid.
Although the signs have a long
history in Oregon, they have never
received approval or recognition by
the federal government.
“We have documentation o f in
tersections allow ing right turns with
out stopping, dating back to the 1940s,
Williams said "In 1985, O D O T (O r
egon Department o f Transportation)
The state is allowing three years
for the signs to come down.
“ODOT has adopted a policy of
removing all existing signs and we
are encouraging cites and counties to
do the same,” Williams said. “W e’re
conducted a student o f the signs'
effectiveness in order to gain federal
approval, but unfortunately the Fed
CELEBRATION
of
(X b e
O O b serU er
A U TO PAm T^SALE
doing our best to make O regon’s
traffic controls consistent within the
state as well as with other states
around the country.”
Meanwhile, Williams is hoping
that local motorists will take heed
when the signs in their areas come
down.
“ W e’re very much concerned
that local drivers who are used to the
signs may continue to make uninter
rupted right runs, even after the rules
ch an g e,” W illiam s said. “ Even
though most o f these signs are in low-
traffic areas, we want to make sure
that motorists respond well and don’t
end up being ticketed for failure to
obey a stop sign.”
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makes their pay checks disappear The
current sy stem penalizes your fellow
man just because he can't afford a
lawyer.
If our lawmakers are truly seri
ous about collecting support for the
children o f this and other states, they
will build in effective due process
safeguards that will make the Child
Support Collection Machine easily
accessible to people whose biggest
crime is being poor.
Perhaps the most important ques
tion o f all is this: if we continue to let
Oregon Legislature pass new child
support laws, and they go out and get
all that back child support we alleg
edly owe our ex-wives, are they also
going to get us that time with our
children those same women refused
to let us have?
We didn’t think so. And that’s
the whole point.
Oregon Men’s PAC, 13606 SE
McLoughlin #2, Milwaukie, Oregon
97222, Phone: 794-0858. Fax: 794-
0493
-1
Sometimes, building a successful
SPECIAL
"[ I he] United States Supreme
Court has recognized that a licensee
has a substantial personal interest in
his license to operate a motor vehicle
ad that loss o f that license can work
a great hardship.”
In State v. Cowie (1985), the
Oregon Court o f Appeals noted that
the State had correctly conceded that
a driver's license is a protected prop
erty interest. In State v. Jones (also in
1985). the State conceded that a driv
er’s license is a “significant private
interest”, and is protected by the Due
Process Clause. The U S. Supreme
Court agreed previously in Mackey
v. Montrym, and that view is echoed
in O regon's Boykin v. Ott (1972.)
TheOregon M en’s PAC proposes, in
cone lusion, that there are better ways
to get votes than on the backs o f men
who are already doing all they can.
The solution is to make this system
available to all the good people of
Oregon who have the misfortune, not
o f their own doing, o f losing their
jobs or becoming disabled, whatever
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