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Friday, June 06, 2008

Ind. Decisions - More on "ACLU to appeal loss in BMV case"

This April 25th ILB entry quoted from an Indianapolis Star story reporting that "ACLU of Indiana will appeal a court ruling that allows the state to revoke driver's licenses if information on them doesn't match Social Security records."

This afternoon the AP's Ken Kusmer reports:

INDIANAPOLIS - Thousands of Indiana residents who lost their driving privileges appeared to win a reprieve Friday when judges temporarily blocked the state from revoking licenses that don't match Social Security records.

The Indiana Court of Appeals granted a preliminary injunction staying the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles' invalidation of driver's licenses or identification cards on the sole basis of mismatched records while a lawsuit challenging the policy works itself through appeals.

An Indianapolis judge in April had found the new state policy constitutional.

"This stops a process which I think is illegal and would cause a great deal of harm," said Legal Director Ken Falk of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit.

BMV Commissioner Ron Stiver, however, issued a statement saying the invalidation process was complete and suggesting those licenses and ID cards that had been revoked would remain invalid. * * *

Judge Kenneth Johnson of Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis denied the ACLU challenge to the state policy in April, saying the BMV had a strong interest in maintaining accurate records to reduce fraud and identity theft.

Johnson at that time denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction pending appeals, but a Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 Friday to grant the stay.

Briefs in the appeal, pending before a separate Court of Appeals panel, might not be completed until October, Falk said.

That would make a ruling unlikely until after the Nov. 4 elections to decide the next president, governor and other officeholders.

The story goes on to detail how "the plaintiff class came to include 15,332 people who had their licenses or ID cards invalidated, or were threatened with that action, because of the mismatched records."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 6, 2008 05:33 PM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions | Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions