The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Garcia, affirming the Appellate Division, determined the regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the application of those regulations to the petitioners were lawful. Petitioners challenged certain DMV regulations pursuant to which their applications for driver’s licenses, which had been revoked for Driving While Intoxicated offenses, were denied. Applying the Boreali criteria, the court found the Commissioner did not exceed her rule-making powers. The court further found the regulations did not conflict with the relevant statutes and there was a rational basis for the Commissioner’s denial of the license applications:
The amendments at issue in these appeals (the Regulations) were adopted as emergency regulations in September 2012 and took effect immediately. In relevant part, the Regulations provide that, “[u]pon receipt of a person’s application for relicensing, the Commissioner shall conduct a lifetime review of such person’s driving record” (15 NYCRR 136.5 [b]). The Commissioner “shall deny the application” if “the record review shows that”: (1) the applicant has “five or more alcohol- or drug-related driving convictions or incidents in any combination within his or her lifetime,” (15 NYCRR 136.5 [b] [1]) or (2) within a “25 year look back period,” the applicant “has three or four alcohol- or drug-related driving convictions or incidents in any combination” and “one or more serious driving offense” (15 NYCRR 136.5 [b] [2]). A “serious driving offense” includes: (i) “a fatal accident”; (ii) “a driving-related Penal Law conviction”; (iii) “conviction of two or more violations for which five or more points are assessed” on the applicant’s driving record; or (iv) “20 or more points from any violations” (15 NYCRR 136.5 [a] [2]).
For applicants with “three or four alcohol- or drug-related driving convictions or incidents in any combination within the 25 year look back period but no serious driving offenses within the 25 year look back period,” the Regulations provide that the Commissioner “shall deny the application for at least five years” in addition to the minimum statutory revocation period (15 NYCRR 136.5 [b] [3]). Following the expiration of this five-year waiting period, “the Commissioner may in his or her discretion approve the application, provided that upon such approval, the Commissioner shall impose the A2 restriction on such person’s license for a period of five years and shall require the installation of an ignition interlock device in any motor vehicle owned or operated by such person for such five-year period” (id.). An A2 restricted license is limited to operation to and from specified destinations — for instance, “the holder’s place of employment or education” (see 15 NYCRR 135.9 [b]; 15 NYCRR 3.2 [c] [4]).
The Commissioner is expressly permitted to “deviate from the general policy” set forth in the Regulations “in the exercise of discretionary authority granted” under the VTL (15 NYCRR 136.5 [d]). Specifically, the Commissioner may approve a relicensing application based on a showing of “unusual, extenuating and compelling circumstances,” in which case “the applicant may be issued a license or permit with a problem driver restriction . . . and may be required to install an ignition interlock device” (id.). Matter of Acevedo v New York State Dept. of Motor Vehs., 2017 NY Slip Op 03690, CtApp 5-9-17
VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW (DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED, LICENSE REVOCATION, DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES REGULATIONS ALLOWING A 25 YEAR LOOK BACK FOR CERTAIN DRIVERS WITH DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED CONVICTIONS WERE LAWFULLY PROMULGATED AND APPLIED)/DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED (LICENSE REVOCATION, DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES REGULATIONS ALLOWING A 25 YEAR LOOK BACK FOR CERTAIN DRIVERS WITH DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED CONVICTIONS WERE LAWFULLY PROMULGATED AND APPLIED)/DRIVE’S LICENSES (LICENSE REVOCATION, DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES REGULATIONS ALLOWING A 25 YEAR LOOK BACK FOR CERTAIN DRIVERS WITH DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED CONVICTIONS WERE LAWFULLY PROMULGATED AND APPLIED)/ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED, LICENSE REVOCATION, DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES REGULATIONS ALLOWING A 25 YEAR LOOK BACK FOR CERTAIN DRIVERS WITH DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED CONVICTIONS WERE LAWFULLY PROMULGATED AND APPLIED)/MOTOR VEHICLES, DEPARTMENT OF (DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED, LICENSE REVOCATION, DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES REGULATIONS ALLOWING A 25 YEAR LOOK BACK FOR CERTAIN DRIVERS WITH DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED CONVICTIONS WERE LAWFULLY PROMULGATED AND APPLIED)/BOREALI CRITERIA (ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED, LICENSE REVOCATION, DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES REGULATIONS ALLOWING A 25 YEAR LOOK BACK FOR CERTAIN DRIVERS WITH DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED CONVICTIONS WERE LAWFULLY PROMULGATED AND APPLIED)