Summary
The Oklahoma Supreme Court assumed original jurisdiction and temporarily stayed the application and enforcement of the 2017 Impaired Driving Elimination Act 2, Senate Bill No. 643, pending litigation challenging its constitutionality. The Court ordered that the Act not take effect on November 1, 2017, and that it remain unenforced until a future order or opinion of the Court.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Supreme Court of Oklahoma could exercise original jurisdiction and temporarily stay the effective date and enforcement of the 2017 Impaired Driving Elimination Act 2 pending resolution of the constitutional litigation.
Holdings
- The Supreme Court of Oklahoma possesses judicial discretion to grant temporary relief, including a stay of a statute's effective date and enforcement, when necessary to protect the parties' rights while a judicial controversy is pending and an event affecting the controversy is imminent.
- The effective date and all provisions of the 2017 Impaired Driving Elimination Act 2, Senate Bill No. 643, are stayed; the Act shall not take effect on November 1, 2017, and shall not be enforced until a future order or opinion of the Court directs otherwise.
Key quotations
“The Court possesses judicial discretion to grant temporary relief or relief on the merits, with an opinion to follow, in order to protect the rights of parties pending resolution of a judicial controversy when a short period of time occurs between oral argument and the time an event will occur concerning the merits of the controversy.” (¶ 2)
“The 2017 Impaired Driving Elimination Act 2, (S.B. No. 643), shall not take effect on November 1, 2017, the provisions of the Act shall not be enforced during the present litigation, and they shall not be enforced until a future order or opinion of this Court so directs.” (¶ 3)
Factual background
Petitioners challenged the constitutionality of the 2017 Impaired Driving Elimination Act 2, Senate Bill No. 643. The Act was scheduled to become effective on November 1, 2017. Because the effective date was imminent and litigation concerning the Act remained unresolved, the Court issued temporary relief to preserve the parties' rights pending further proceedings.
Procedural history
The petition was brought directly in the Supreme Court of Oklahoma. The Court assumed original jurisdiction for the limited purpose of issuing a temporary stay pending litigation concerning the Act's constitutionality.
Remand instructions
The Act shall remain unenforced until a future order or opinion of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma directs otherwise.