Late Mass. Drug Suspension Appeals

The Registry of Motor Vehicles is legally required to suspend or revoke your Massachusetts Driver’s License if you have been convicted of certain drug crimes. The law requires the court to report drug convictions to the Registry “forthwith” and the Registry is supposed to “immediately” suspend your license. However, this does not always happen as quickly as the law requires. Instead, convictions are not reported promptly and, in some cases, the Registry does not learn of the drug convictions until years after conviction. Thus, the drug-related license suspensions can be delayed for several years after conviction. 

The apparent failure of the court/and or the Registry to ensure the prompt reporting of your drug-related convictions should not, in fairness, be visited upon you. Whether the court or the Registry or both are responsible for the fact that the Registry sometimes waits years to impose a license suspension is a matter for determination by and between the Registry and the court. As a matter of due process, you should have had your license suspended as of the date of his conviction, not as of some uncertain later date that was presumably dependent upon the action of the court, the Registry, or even the postal service-all of whom are beyond your ability to direct or control.

I have represented numerous clients who are facing untimely drug-related license suspensions. If his has happened to you, please contact me for a free consultation and case review. You may be able to get a full license reinstatement or at least shorten the length of your drug-related Massachusetts license suspension.