Ferguson v. Department of Transportation
Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that counting prior participation in a diversionary program to resolve a driving-under-the-influence charge as a prior offense prompting a driver’s license suspension for a subsequent conviction does not violate substantive due process under the state constitution. A concurrence opined that the court should not treat challenges under the state’s inherent rights and “due course of law” clauses as due process claims and should no longer apply—as the majority did, based on precedent—a heightened rational basis test under those provisions.
Related Commentary
Recent State Judicial Opinions Critique Lockstepping
Justices in Connecticut, Texas, and Pennsylvania have called on their courts to embrace independent state constitutional interpretations.