Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:25:20.109Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ignorance of International Law Is No Excuse, or How the Florida Legislature Ticked Off Canada†

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2019

Patricia Morgan ,
Loren Turner  and
Edward T. Hart
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

During its 2012 session the Florida Legislature amended the text of the Florida Statutes which lists exemptions from the requirements of obtaining a Florida drivers’ license. Removed from the text of Florida Statute 322.04 was the line concerning nonresidents, both fellow Americans and international visitors, “who has in his or her immediate possession a valid noncommercial driver's license issued to the nonresident in his or her home state or country [emphasis added].” Inserted was a new line, “An International Driving Permit issued in his or her name in his or her country of residence and a valid license issued in that country.” International visitors were required to have in their possession not only a valid drivers’ license, but also an International Driving Permit (IDP) that translated into English the personal identification information of the driver. The change took effect January 1, 2013, but even before that date, Florida faced allegations that it was violating international law with this new requirement.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , Winter 2013 , pp. 309 - 325
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the International Association of Law Libraries. 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Letter from Tim Shearman, President, Canadian Automobile Association, to Rick Scott, Governor, State of Florida (Feb. 20, 2013) available at http://www.caa.ca/governor-of-florida-a-letter-asking-to-amend-idp/ Google Scholar

2 Statement from DHSMV on International Driving Permits.Google Scholar

3 Tampa Bay Times “Don't Snub the Snowbirds. www.tampbat.com/opinion/editorials/dont-snub-the-snowbirds/1275400. See also Tampa Bay Times http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/angst-from-canadians-prompts-drivers-license-change/1275293.Google Scholar

4 See also Toronto Stat at http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/02/15/florida_travel_politician_responsible_for_licence_law_debacle_apologizes.print.html Google Scholar

5 Fla. Stat. § 322.03 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

6 Fla. Stat. §322.04(2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7 Fla. Stat. §322.04(2011).Google Scholar

8 Fla. Legis., Final Legislative Bill Information, 2012 Reg. Sess., HB 1223, available at: http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2012/1223.Google Scholar

9 Clarke, Sara K., Rules on International Driving Permits Cause Unintended Consequences for Florida Tourism, Orlando Sentinel (February 15, 2013), available at: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-02-15/news/os-international-driving-permit-orlando-20130215_1_international-visitors-law-enforcement-unintended-consequences Google Scholar

10 Fla. Stat. § 322.04(c)(2) (2012).Google Scholar

11 Id.Google Scholar

12 Pollick, Michael & Griffin, Justine, Canadian Fear Insurance Implications of State's New Driving Rule, Herald-Tribune (February 14, 2013), available at: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130215/ARTICLE/130219675.Google Scholar

13 Press Release, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Florida's Doors and Roadways Remain Open to Visitors: Highway Safety Agency Reassures Visitors that Travel to the Sunshine State is Business as Usual (Feb. 14, 2013) available at: http://www.flhsmv.gov/news/pdfs/PR021413.pdf.Google Scholar

14 Id.Google Scholar

15 Fla. Legis., Final Bill Analysis, 2013 Reg. Se§., available at: http://flsenate.gov/Se§ion/Bill/2013/7059/Analyses/A9VKVNwtnmFx29tufAAwq1RmtAE=%7C14/Public/Bills/7000-7099/7059/Analysis/h7059z.EAC.PDF Google Scholar

16 U.S. Const. art. II, §2.Google Scholar

17 Id.Google Scholar

18 U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2.Google Scholar

19 Ware v. Hylton, 3 U.S. 199 (1796). See also Julian G. Ku, Treaties as Laws: a Defense of the Last-in-Time Rule for Treaties and Federal Statutes, 80 Indiana L.J. 319 (2005) (explaining the rule governing conflicts between treaty provisions and federal statutes).Google Scholar

20 Convention on the Regulation of Inter-American Automotive Traffic, opened for signature Dec. 15, 1943, 61 Stat. 1129 (entered into force for the U.S. Oct. 29, 1946) [hereinafter The Inter-American Convention].Google Scholar

21 Convention on Road Traffic, Sept. 19, 1949, 125 UNTS 22 (entered into force Mar. 26, 1952) [hereinafter The Geneva Convention].Google Scholar

22 See The Inter-American Convention, supra note 10, at 1130; see also The Geneva Convention, supra note 11, at 3 UST 3008.Google Scholar

23 The Inter-American Convention, supra note 16, at 1134. 24 Id. at 1132.Google Scholar

25 Id. at 1144.Google Scholar

26 The Geneva Convention, supra note 11, at 125 UNTS 38, 40.Google Scholar

27 The Geneva Convention, supra note 17, art. 30 at 125 UNTS 44.Google Scholar

28 Senate Foreign Relations Committee Executive Rep. No. 10, 81st Cong. 2d Sess. 30 (1950).Google Scholar

29 Wis, Op. Atty. Gen. No. 88-79Google Scholar

30 Art. VI, cl. 2.Google Scholar

31 Wis. Op. Atty Gen No. 88-79, p.4.Google Scholar

32 Ibid, p. 1.Google Scholar

33 Tenn. Op. Atty. Gen. No 08-25 (February 13, 2008)Google Scholar

34 Id. at 2-3Google Scholar

35 Eskew v. Young, 992 F. Supp 1049 (S.D. Ill. 1998)Google Scholar

36 Id. at 1052.Google Scholar

37 Id. at 1053.Google Scholar

38 Turnbell, Michael, Florida's New License Requirement Driving Canadians Crazy, Sun Sentinel, Feb. 15, 2013, http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-02-15/news/fl-canadian-driver-license-20130214_1_canadians-driver-licenses-new-license-requirement; Toluse Olorunnipa, Florida U-Turns on International Driver's Permit Requirement, Miami Herald, Apr. 2. 2013.Google Scholar

39 2012 Fla. Laws 2380.Google Scholar

40 1939 Fla. Laws 1276.Google Scholar

41 Id. at 1283.Google Scholar

42 1941 Fla. Laws 762.Google Scholar

43 1943, Fla. Laws 538.Google Scholar

44 Id. at 539.Google Scholar

45 David J. Coles, Keep the Home Fires Burning Florida's World War II Experience, in The Florida Handbook 428 (Allen Morris and Joan Perry Morris, 27th Biennial Edition, 1999-2000).Google Scholar

46 Id. at 428.Google Scholar

47 1955 Fla. Laws 224.Google Scholar

48 1959 Fla. Laws 1171.Google Scholar

49 1961 Fla. Laws 214.Google Scholar

50 The Space Race, http://www.history.com/topics/space-race (last visited July 11, 2013).Google Scholar

51 National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Cold War in South Florida Historic Resource Study (Steve Hach 2004), available at http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/coldwar/florida.pdf at page 18Google Scholar

52 1969 Fla. Laws 763.Google Scholar

53 Id.Google Scholar

54 du Fresne, Elizabeth J. and McDonnell, John J., The Migrant Labor Camps: Enclaves of Isolation in our Midst, 40 Fordham L. Rev. 279 (1971), available at http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol40/iss2/3.Google Scholar

55 1989 Fla. Laws Chapter 89-282Google Scholar

56 1995 Fla. Laws 1158.Google Scholar

57 1995 Fla. Laws 2962.Google Scholar

58 Fla. Stat. § 322.04(1)(d)(1995).Google Scholar

59 2012 Fla. Laws 37.Google Scholar

60 House of Representatives Final Bill Analysis, CS/CS/HB 1223 (Fla. 2012), available at http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=h1223z1.THSS.DOCX&DocumentType=Analysis&BillNumber=1223&Session=2012.Google Scholar

61 CS/CS/HB 1223 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (Fla. 2012) http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=48489. In contrast, see CS/HB 503 Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor vehicles Act of 2008 (Fla. 2008), http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=h0503a.ENRC.doc&DocumentType=Analysis&BillNumber=0503&Session=2008 as example where the staff warned legislatures of possible conflict between the bill and existing law.Google Scholar

62 Id.Google Scholar

63 Requirement for International Driving Permit, Section 322.04, Florida Statutes, Docket Number 2013-0007611 (Feb. 25, 2013) available at http://flhsmv.gov/IDP022513.pdf.Google Scholar

64 Id.Google Scholar

65 See, e.g. “Statement from Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) on International Driving Permits” available at http://www.joyoftravel.ca/newsDetails.php7Statement-from-Florida-Department-of-Highway-Safety-and-Motor-Vehicles-DHSMV-on-International-Driving-Permits-137.Google Scholar

66 Dunkelberger, Lloyd, Lawmaker Says He's Sorry in Letter to Canadian Diplomats, Herald-Tribune (March 8, 2013), http://politics.heraldtribune.com/2013/03/08/lawmaker-says-hes-sorry-in-letter-to-canadian-diplomats/.Google Scholar

67 HB 7509, 2013 Leg. (FL 2013) and SB 1766, 2013 Leg, (FL 2013)Google Scholar

68 House of Representatives Final Bill Analysis, HB 7059 (Fla. 2013), http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=h7059z.EAC.DOCX&DocumentType=Analysis&BillNumber=7059&Session=2013 Google Scholar

69 Simpson, Kristine, CAA Applauds Repeal of Florida IDP Law, Canadian Automobile Association (April 2, 2013), http://www.caa.ca/caa-applauds-repeal-of-florida-idp-law/ Google Scholar

70 Fla. Laws 2013-01Google Scholar

71 Wing, Nick, Rick Scott Surrenders to Canada, Repeals International Driver's License Law, The Huffington Post (April 2, 2013, 5:31 p.m.), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/rick-scott-drivers-license_n_3001553.html?utm_hp_ref=politics Google Scholar