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City of Broussard v. Watkins3/31/2004
judgment entered under the provisions of the Act is in the same manner and form as appeals in civil actions. R.S. 32:1478.
3) The fundamental purpose of the Act is to promote highway safety by denying driving privileges to habitual traffic law offenders (32:1471), a distinctly non-criminal objective.
One purpose of the Act is, of course, to discourage repetition of criminal acts, but this alone is not sufficient to give the Act a penal character since deterrence of wrongful criminal conduct while often an object of criminal statutes may be an objective of a regulatory statute as well. See McDermott v. Wisconsin, 228 U.S. 115, 33 S.Ct. 431, 57 L.Ed. 754 (1913); United States v. Kordel, 164 F.2d 913 (7th Cir. 1947), aff'd, 335 U.S. 345, 69 S.Ct. 106, 93 L.Ed. 52 (1948).
There are, of course, features of the Act not now before us which are penal, or criminal. For instance, 32:1480 may result in imprisonment for driving while classified as a habitual offender. However, this is an independent feature of the Act separate and distinct from the revocation proceeding.
Id. at 429.
After discussing two Louisiana appellate court cases, which hold that a revocation proceeding is civil, and citing numerous other state supreme court cases finding similar proceedings to be civil actions, the supreme court noted that proceedings to revoke local driver's licenses are "generally regarded as civil proceedings." Id. at 429-30. The supreme court further stated:
License revocation procedures, even those following conviction for a specific traffic violation, have been considered civil actions by Louisiana courts. Under La.R.S. 32:667, 668 which provides for suspension of license after refusal to take a blood alcohol test, the revocation procedure is unquestionably civil. Culp v. Department of Public Safety, 288 So.2d 680 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1974); Gardner v. State, Department of Public Safety, 198 So.2d 184 (La.App. 3rd Cir. 1967). Moreover, the revocation of license under R.S. 32:414 also constitutes a civil sanction, in certain circumstances, against motorists who are convicted of driving while intoxicated. Harrison v. State, Department of Public Safety, 298 So.2d 312 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1974).
Although due process is required before a driver's license may be revoked, Bell v. Burson, 402 U.S. 535, 91 S.Ct. 1586, 29 L.Ed.2d 90 (1971); Smith v. Department of Public Safety, 254 So.2d 515 (La.App.4th Cir. 1971), it does not necessarily follow that the revocation of a license constitutes criminal punishment. On the contrary, the revocation of one's license to operate a motor vehicle under the habitual offender law does not constitute punishment. Rather, it is a civil measure considered necessary by the Legislature to adequately provide for public safety. It is a finding by a court that the person in question is no longer fit to enjoy the privilege of driving a motor vehicle. The result of the finding is to deny the person the right to drive on the public highways of the state; he suffers no loss of liberty, no incarceration nor fine.
We hold therefore that the district attorney's petition to have defendant declared an habitual offender under the Motor Vehicle Habitual Offender Law, with the attendant minimum five year revocation of driving privileges, is a civil proceeding.
Id. at 430. (footnote omitted).
Later, in Butler v. Department of Public Safety and Corrections, 609 So.2d 790 (La.1992), the supreme court held a driver's license suspension is a civil matter. The court "conclude that a driver's license suspension is a remedial measure which attempts to protect society from the hazards posed by drunk drivers
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