Dodge v. Anchorage

In Dodge v. Anchorage, 877 P.2d 270 (Alaska App. 1994) the Court pointed out that this statute sets out the required minimum periods of revocation but does not set any maximum. The Court concluded that the statute "authorizes a court to revoke a driver's license for any period of years, including a lifetime revocation." Therefore, Judge Card's revocation of Fine's driver's license for life does not exceed the period of revocation authorized by statute. But, in Dodge the Court discussed the circumstances under which a court can impose a lifetime revocation of a driver's license. The Court stated that "a court should impose a lifetime revocation of a driver's license only in extreme cases when a court concludes that such a revocation is required to protect the public." In Dodge the Court concluded that a lifetime revocation of Dodge's driver's license was defensible. But Dodge was an offender who had "a twenty-year history of repeated offenses involving the operation of motor vehicles while intoxicated." Dodge's numerous offenses had resulted in the death of one person, and he had clearly endangered numerous others. Dodge had established himself as a chronic DWI offender who was a worst offender and who was clearly a danger to the public.