States Challenge Department of Transportation Over Driver Records
Another lawsuit in the greatest country on Earth? It must be a day ending with a “y.”
That is a phrase we used in an article from last week, and it seems to still ring true as another lawsuit is hitting the trucking industry. This time, it is a coalition of twenty-two states plus the District of Columbia suing the national Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Homeland Security, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), in a battle that concerns 17 million records and a possible violation of the right to privacy.
Details
The DOT is flexing its federal authority to retrieve 17 million records from the AAMVA. The lawsuit states that the DOT is demanding the AAMVA “turn over records containing the name, date of birth, State of record, license number, and Social Security Number of every driver in the entire CDLIS database going back five years, comprising some 17 million pointer records.”
The reason that the DOT wants this information? The lawsuit continues by saying it is for “investigating illegal practices in commercial driver’s license (CDL) schools, identifying and addressing criminal fraud regarding the issuance of CDLs to illegal aliens, and conducting civil immigration enforcement.”
The lawsuit also lists AAMVA as a defendant, as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration strong-armed the AAMVA into compliance by threatening to cease federal grants and contracts due to non-compliance. As such, the coalition considers AAMVA to be a part of the opposing side.
The coalition comprises of:
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- Washington D.C.
- Wisconsin
Conclusion
If you are interested in reading the opening of the lawsuit, you can do so on the California Department of Justice’s webpage.
The Supreme Court has often argued that the United States Constitution has an implied right to privacy, citing not only the fourth amendment against illegal search and seizure, but also the third amendment prohibiting the quartering of soldiers in times of peace, which may just be the least disputed amendment of all time. It will be interesting to see how this lawsuit plays out.
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