Madison NORML

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By: Molly Sheetz
March 25, 2009

Drug offenders could retain licenses

The Wisconsin state Assembly passed a resolution removing a federal mandate requiring automatic suspension of drug offenders’ drivers’ licenses Tuesday.

The Wisconsin state Assembly passed a joint resolution Tuesday allowing judges to decide whether drug offenders’ driver’s licenses should be suspended.

Wisconsin is the 38th state to pass a resolution that removes itself from a federal mandate requiring judges to automatically suspend or revoke driver’s licenses of convicted drug offenders.

The resolution passed with a vote of 86 to 12, a result that did not surprise state Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, one of the co-sponsors of the resolution.

“This is a no-brainer. This is easy. It’s just giving [offenders] more time to pay [fines],” he said. “It’s a win for municipalities, and we get people back to work.”

Although the resolution relates solely to suspensions for non-moving drug violations, supporters of the resolution hope it will help offenders keep their jobs.

State Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee, said she co-sponsored the resolution because she believed it was important to get people back to work.

“This is certainly not the bill that’s going to bring us out of the recession, but it’s one that will help people maintain their jobs,” she said.

According to Eric Peterson, chief of staff for state Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, Taylor considered the federal policy overly restrictive and detrimental to offenders who are working to rebuild their lives.

The issue originally caught Taylor’s attention when she learned that roughly 90,000 people in Milwaukee County did not have valid driver’s licenses.

Taylor proceeded to work as the primary author of the resolution.

Peterson said the resolution does not guarantee licenses will not be suspended, but said judges will now make the decision.

“This is just one tool that is in the toolbox of keeping people driving,” Peterson said.