Pence v. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles

Citations

• 235 Conn. App. 409

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed from the trial court's judgment dismissing his adminis- trative appeal from the decision of the defendant Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. In his decision, the commissioner suspended the plaintiff's motor vehicle operator's license following his arrest for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and required, pursuant to statute (§ 14-227b (i)), as a condition for the restoration of his license, that the plaintiff install an ignition interlock device in a motor vehicle he owned or operated. The plaintiff claimed that the court improperly dismissed his administrative appeal for lack of standing because he had established that he was an indigent driver who did not own a motor vehicle, could not afford a motor vehicle, and had no access to a motor vehicle in which to install an ignition interlock device, and, therefore, there was a possibility that his legally protected interest in a motor vehicle operator's license would be adversely and unequally affected by the ignition interlock device requirement in violation of the equal protection clauses of the United States and Connecti- cut constitutions. Held: The trial court properly determined that the plaintiff did not have standing to assert his constitutional claim, as the plaintiff failed to establish that he was a member of the group of individuals that he asserted § 14-227b (i) was enacted to discriminate against, namely, indigent drivers who do not own a motor vehicle, who cannot afford a motor vehicle, and who do not have access to a motor vehicle in which to install an ignition interlock device, as is required by § 14-227b (i). (One judge dissenting) Argued March 26—officially released September 23, 2025