Legal and Illegal Aliens, Trucking, CDLs & the U.S. Supreme Court

On August 18th of last year a non-english speaking, undocumented, man from India made an illegal u-turn with his 18-wheeler on a Florida turnpike. A car crashed into his truck and killed three people.

The man — Harjinder Singh — didn’t understand road signs done in English. He’s since been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide.

After the crash, the state of Florida sued California and Washington, the two states that issued Singh a CDL. Florida contends California and Washington give people commercial licenses without proper documentation and without the ability to understand English.

In the court filing, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said, "California's and Washington's decisions to endanger their own citizens is reprehensible. But commercial drivers routinely cross state lines, endangering citizens of other States.”

Washington Attorney General Nicholas Brown disagrees. His response points out that Florida also licenses people improperly.

"In recent years, Florida has improperly licensed thousands of commercial drivers without evidence that those drivers speak English or meet residency requirements," he wrote in a court filing and pointed out a lawsuit like this sets a dangerous precedent. "Can States bring nuisance claims against each other in this Court alleging that lax vaccination policies or firearm restrictions in one state are causing harm in another? The Court should not open that door."

The court agreed with Brown and it will not take the case.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito wrote a dissenting opinion. They want to hear the case. "This court declines to even hear Florida's claims, even though it has nowhere else to bring them," Thomas wrote.

Representatives in California and Washington contend this is a political stunt and noted the proper place for Florida to start should have been the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. It is under the Department of Transportation.

Meanwhile, last August the Trump administration Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said California, Washington and New Mexico will lose federal funding unless they adopt and enforce English language proficiency rules for commercial drivers.

Source link: UPI — https://bit.ly/4o97EIc