Lawsuit Challenges License Suspension In Florida DUI Cases

A federal lawsuit is challenging the way driver’s licenses are automatically taken away from drunken-driving suspects in Florida.

The class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Orlando says the current process denies DUI suspects the right to due process.

The lawsuit is seeking more than $50 million from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

The lawsuit says there is no independent judge or hearing officer to consider a defendant’s challenge to having a driver’s license suspended.

Any challenge goes before a hearing officer at the agency. The lawsuit calls that arrangement “a kangaroo court” and says it stacks the deck against a defendant.

Agency spokeswoman Alexis Bakofsky says the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation.