Court rejects driver’s license challenge
The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday rejected a Mexican citizen’s bid to strike down the state’s law that punishes those who drive without a valid license.
Fernando Castillo-Solis, an illegal immigrant who has lived in Georgia about a decade, had claimed the statute denied him due process or equal protection. Under state law, anyone living in Georgia for at least 30 days must have a state-issued license.
In January 2010, a Gwinnett County police officer pulled over a Chevrolet van driven by Castillo-Solis after determining from a computer check the vehicle’s registration had been suspended. Castillo-Solis was unable to produce a valid license and was charged for that and for not registering the van.
Castillo-Solis then filed a court challenge, seeking to have the driver’s license law found unconstitutional.
In Monday’s opinion, Justice David Nahmias said that Castillo-Solis, because he is an illegal immigrant, is ineligible to get a Georgia driver’s license. “To the consternation of generations of American teenagers, there is no fundamental right to a driver’s license,” Nahmias wrote.
Castillo-Solis’ attorney had contended that a retroactive amnesty provision in the law discriminates against non-Georgia citizens, because it allows a driver charged with not having a license to get that charge dismissed before trial by producing a valid Georgia license. Because Castillo-Solis cannot get a license, he cannot enjoy the benefits of that provision, the lawyer argued.
Nahmias said this was an incorrect interpretation of the law.
The “safe-harbor” provision does not allow a person cited for driving without a license to escape guilt by getting a license after the fact and then presenting it in court, he said. Instead, the provision simply allows a person who is licensed to drive to bring that license to court to show that he had a license but couldn’t produce it when a police officer asked him to.
About the Author
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
