DMV vs Courts
U.S. v Halper (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Federal
Constitution’s Firth Amendment double Jeopardy Clause prohibits not only
multiple prosecution in criminal proceedings, but also prohibits double
punishment, regardless of the civil or criminal nature of the
proceedings.. Thus the Halper case precludes double punishment, by both
the court and the D.M.V., for driving with a BAC of 0.08% or more.
Note that in Ellis v Pierce (1991), the Court of Appeals held that a
DMV administrative suspension for chemical test refusal imposed after a
court-imposed jail sentence for the same conduct is not violation of
Federal Double Jeopardy suspension for chemical test refusal and was not
punishment, since it only inhibited drunk driving, and did not deter
it…..This Ellis case held only that a chemical test refusal suspension
is not punishment . .it said nothing about a suspension for excessive
BAC.
