Office of the Chief · Issues At
Motion to Dismiss — Traffic Citation
Jefferson County Court, State of Colorado. Personam jurisdiction and due process challenge to a Colorado traffic citation, grounded in the distinction between regulated commerce upon the highways and non-commercial private travel.
Category: Traffic / Right to Travel · Sample motion · Summary public · Companion to the Right to Travel brief
Source document
File: Motion to Dismiss — Traffic Citation, Jefferson County Court, State of Colorado
Grounds: Personam jurisdiction · Due process · Non-commercial travel
Argument outline
I. Introduction. Motion to dismiss the complaint (traffic citation) on personam jurisdiction and due process grounds; the Plaintiff has, in error, applied to the Defendant provisions applicable only to those engaged in commerce upon the highways.
II. Issues & Authorities. Enforcement must be within statutory limitations of authority. Judicial and executive branches have no authority to read into the law that which is not manifest in its terms. Cites Sherar v. Cullen, 481 F.2d 945; McKinney v. Estate of McDonald, 71 Wn.2d 262 (1967); Port of Tacoma v. Parosa, 52 Wn.2d 181 (1958); Lake County v. Rollins, 130 U.S. 662; Bate Refrigerating v. Sulzberger, 157 U.S. 1; United States v. Lexington Mill, 232 U.S. 399; The Federalist No. 78 (Hamilton).
III. Commerce Clause. Jurisdiction over interstate commerce is reserved to Congress and must be delegated to the State. Regulation of the public highways is a regulation of transportation companies engaged in commerce, not of natural persons in private travel.
IV. Statutory framework. Colorado's motor-carrier and transportation statutes apply by their terms to commercial actors. Absent commercial engagement, the Plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
V. Relief. Dismissal with prejudice for want of personam jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim.
The outline above is a working summary. The PDF above is the authoritative source document. See also the Right to Travel brief for the constitutional and international-law grounding.