Kennedy v. Edgar

556 N.E.2d 830, 199 Ill. App. 3d 138, 145 Ill. Dec. 212, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 931
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 27, 1990
Docket4-89-0931
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 556 N.E.2d 830 (Kennedy v. Edgar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kennedy v. Edgar, 556 N.E.2d 830, 199 Ill. App. 3d 138, 145 Ill. Dec. 212, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 931 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

JUSTICE McCULLOUGH

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff Catherine Kennedy filed a petition with defendant Secretary of State (Secretary) requesting full reinstatement of her driving privileges. The Secretary denied the petition. On administrative review, the circuit court for Sangamon County reversed the Secretary’s decision, but stayed the order pending this appeal by the Secretary. The Secretary argues its decision was not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the circuit court.

Plaintiff’s driving privileges were revoked by the Secretary on December 18, 1982, following plaintiff’s November 1982 conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). Plaintiff received a second DUI conviction in March 1983 and was convicted of illegal transportation of liquor on April 27, 1983. No injuries occurred in connection with plaintiff’s DUI offenses.

On March 24, 1989, plaintiff requested full reinstatement of her driving privileges or an extension of her restricted driving permit (RDP) issued on October 22, 1987. At a hearing on May 4, 1989, the hearing officer took official notice of the prior proceedings in this matter wherein plaintiff requested reinstatement of her driving privileges in 1986, 1987, and 1988.

At the time of the May 1989 hearing, plaintiff was 30 years old and married with two preschool children. Plaintiff testified she was employed as the bar manager for the American Legion Post 32 in Springfield and had worked for this employer for four years. Plaintiff testified she had not consumed any alcoholic beverages for the past 44/2 years. Plaintiff stated she is a recovering alcoholic but does not belong to a support group like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Plaintiff stated she used to go to AA meetings but did not like them because she did not consider the constant reminder of her drinking problem helpful. Plaintiff stated she attends church on Sunday and spends a lot of time with her two children. Plaintiff stated she was not involved in an alcohol-related support group at church but planned on getting more involved when her children got older. Plaintiff stated that because of her children, she does not want to drink ever again.

Plaintiff presented letters from three individuals who attested to plaintiff’s abstinence from alcohol in the previous 21lz to 3 years. Plaintiff also presented an alcohol evaluation done by Paul L. Carlson, a certified substance-abuse counselor, in November 1988. Carlson classified plaintiff as a Level III or alcohol-dependent person. (92 Ill. Adm. Code §1001.410, at 3518 (Supp. 1988).) The report recommended plaintiff complete intensive inpatient or outpatient alcohol treatment followed by a minimum of 22 hours of follow-up counseling. The report also indicated that plaintiff completed her treatment in 1984. Carlson was also one of the individuals who wrote a letter on plaintiff’s behalf. Carlson’s letter dated May 8, 1989, states plaintiff had not attended AA meetings over the past year but remained committed to her own personal program, which involved church attendance and commitment to her family.

The hearing officer found the evidence at the hearing supported the Level III classification in the evaluation report. The hearing officer also noted that while plaintiff presented Carlson’s evaluation in support of her petition for full driving privileges, this report was incomplete because it did not include the fact that plaintiff was taking Darvon and codeine for pain. The pain was related to a problem plaintiff had with her reproductive system. The hearing officer noted plaintiff had (1) experienced blackouts, loss of control, increased tolerance, and loss of friends as a result of her drinking problems in the past; and (2) plaintiff’s score on the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) taken in 1986 indicated alcoholism.

The hearing officer found plaintiff acknowledged she is an alcoholic but plaintiff did not provide any substantiation or documentation for her claims of abstinence or completion of treatment as required by the regulations adopted by the Secretary. The hearing officer gave little weight to the three letters plaintiff provided in support of her abstinence. The most recent treatment was completed by plaintiff after three months in 1984. The hearing officer noted plaintiff’s attitude, as well as that of her husband, toward AA and another treatment plan was negative. The hearing officer found plaintiff had not established an ongoing support system for her alcohol problem, and stated plaintiff’s use of the drugs of Darvon and codeine represented a serious breakdown in plaintiff’s recovery from alcohol dependency.

The hearing officer found plaintiff had in the past been excused from the normal requirements alcoholics must meet prior to reinstatement of their driving privileges. The hearing officer found plaintiff to be sincere and credible, but stated plaintiff had to fulfill the Secretary’s requirements before restoration could be awarded. Specifically, plaintiff had to provide (1) documentation that she completed treatment for alcoholism; (2) documentation of her involvement in a support system; (3) verification of abstinence; and (4) a physician’s report showing physician’s knowledge of plaintiff’s chemical dependency, the reason for prescribing addictive medications, and the type of monitoring in place for such medications. Without the physician’s report, the hearing officer concluded plaintiff must be viewed as having relapsed, making her ineligible for reinstatement of driving privileges. The hearing officer recommended the Secretary deny plaintiff’s petition for full reinstatement and cancel plaintiff’s current RDP.

The Secretary adopted the hearing officer’s findings of fact and recommendations except for the recommendation to cancel plaintiff’s RDP. In an order dated June 6, 1989, the Secretary ordered that plaintiff’s RDP was to remain in effect and denied full reinstatement. In the same order, the Secretary also referred plaintiff's case to the driver services medical review unit for a determination of whether the pain medications would interfere with plaintiff’s ability to operate a motor vehicle. On June 27, 1989, plaintiff filed a complaint for administrative review. On July 5, 1989, a corrected order from the Secretary was issued, correcting various typographical errors in the previous order. No determination from the medical review unit was received until after October 25, 1989, when the circuit court reversed the Secretary and ordered plaintiff’s driving privileges reinstated.

The sole issue presented in this appeal is whether the circuit court erred in reversing the Secretary’s denial of plaintiff’s request for full reinstatement of her driving privileges. Before considering this issue, we address a motion plaintiff filed with this court to supplement the record with a letter plaintiff received from the Illinois Medical Advisory Board (Board), dated November 24,1989.

Plaintiff seeks to supplement the record to counter an argument raised by the Secretary on appeal. Specifically, plaintiff argues the letter is a necessary part of the record because it renders plaintiff’s medical condition, which was raised by the hearing officer in connection with two pain medications plaintiff was taking, moot.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
556 N.E.2d 830, 199 Ill. App. 3d 138, 145 Ill. Dec. 212, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 931, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kennedy-v-edgar-illappct-1990.