Course Description:

The practice of “masking” violations or the unwarranted reduction of charges for Commercial Drivers in Traffic and Criminal Courts across America is fairly common. When CDL drivers are afforded these opportunities, they often lead to less safe roads and highways for all drivers and passengers. Additionally, the likelihood of more crashes involving CDL holders is increased, which often leads to severe injury or death. To combat this challenge, it is necessary for judges, as the guardrails of the judicial system, to be aware of the basic rules which govern CDL holders by reporting convictions and imposing license suspensions where required by law. This course will provide judges the necessary information and tools to identify, address and combat and respond to “masking” when cases appear in the courtroom.

Course Objectives:

After this course, participants will be able to:

• Identify applicable Federal and state CDL/CMV laws;

• Determine what constitutes “masking”;

• Discover the unique definition of a “conviction” under CDL/CMV laws;

• Summarize the major components related to Access to Justice;

• Hone techniques designed to improve in-court caseflow management and identify CDL cases with potential masking problems;

• Balance Procedural Fairness concerns to avoid federal masking violations;

• Develop ethical and efficient procedures for handling of CDL/CMV cases in their courts.