Mastering Masking: The Legal and Ethical Consequences of Plea Negotiations Involving Commercial Driver's Licenses.

• Author: Howard, Jeanine

On June 5, 2019, the National Traffic Law Center (NTLC), with funding provided by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), hosted 26 prosecutors and other traffic safety professionals for its inaugural presentation of "Mastering Masking: The Legal and Ethical Consequences of Plea Negotiations Involving Commercial Driver's Licenses," in Cleveland, Ohio.

This course was designed to provide prosecutors and other traffic safety professionals with the materials and techniques necessary to train others in their respective jurisdictions about the fundamentals of the prohibition on masking offenses. (1) The NTLC wanted attendees to be able to appreciate how the enforcement of these regulations results in reducing injuries and deaths by keeping unsafe commercial driver's license (CDL) holders off the roads and assuring that each driver has one driver's license and one complete driver's record.

In Cleveland, attendees participated in four modules which employed adult learning techniques to help facilitate the understanding of the federal definition of the terms "masking," "conviction," and "disqualification," pursuant to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).

The first course module was the Convictions module. During this module, attendees were introduced to the federal definition of the term "conviction," (2) which is much broader than its traditional meaning. Understanding what constitutes a conviction is key to understanding the importance of CDL record keeping and the sharing of CDL information from state to state. Participants also learned how convictions affect CDLs through disqualifications and what role convictions play in masking.

Masking and Ethics introduced the second module. During this module, attendees gained more in depth information pertaining to masking and why it is prohibited by the FMCSRs through a thorough examination of the statute. (3) Attendees participated in exercises designed to help them identify masking and determine the ethical considerations involved when prosecutors negotiate CDL cases. Attendees also learned that states are required, under 49 U.S.C.A. [section]31311(19), to comply with the FMCSR definition of masking and to create state specific versions of the FMCSRs, including the prohibition on masking offenses. (4)

The third module was Disqualifications. During this module, attendees learned to navigate the CDL disqualification tables found in 49 C.F.R. [section]383.51 and learned...