Prosecutor: Roadways in peril if license law struck down
Georgians will be in peril if the state’s highest court strikes down a law requiring drivers to have a valid license, a prosecutor argued Monday in an appeal brought by an illegal Mexican immigrant.
“It will effectively grant driving privileges to the blind, the drunk and the adolescent,” Assistant Gwinnett County Solicitor James Grant told the Georgia Supreme Court. They could begin driving on the roadways and face no penalty for doing so, he said.
The case argued before the court involves Fernando Castillo-Solis, a Mexican citizen who has resided illegally in Georgia for the past decade. After he was charged in 2010 with driving without a license and failing to register his vehicle, Castillo-Solis sought to have the driver’s license law declared unconstitutional.
He is appealing a Gwinnett judge’s ruling that rejected his challenge. The state Supreme Court will issue its decision in the coming months.
Castillo-Solis’ lawyer, Arturo Corso, said a retroactive amnesty provision in the law discriminates against non-Georgia citizens. The law says if a driver is charged with not having a license, the driver can get that charge dismissed before trial by producing a valid license issued by the state of Georgia.
Because illegal immigrants cannot obtain a driver’s license, they cannot receive such a benefit, Corso said. The provision also would be of no help to a drivers from out of state, he argued.
Corso also told the justices that the law was passed for one overriding reason — to “round up” illegal immigrants, putting them in jail and expediting their deportation.
Grant asked the court not to buy Castillo-Solis’ “novel and unsupported claims.” He asked the justices to uphold the law and say the so-called “safe harbor” amnesty provision should apply only to those drivers who can show proof they had a valid license at the time of the offense.
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.
