Driver's License
WHAT IS A DRIVER'S LICENSE?
Those trained in the law know there are two nationally recognized and used law encyclopedias, one is American Jurisprudence and the other is Corpus Juris Secundum. Law encyclopedias are secondary sources of law, while generally not jurisdictional specific on a topic of law, they teach how to understand and apply primary sources of law. Below cited is an excerpt from American Jurisprudence in regards to statutory construction of licensing statutes:
“A license is in the general nature of a special privilege, entitling the licensee to do something that he would not be entitled to do without the license”. 51 Am. Jur.2d., LICENSES AND PERMITS, PART ONE, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, I. GENERAL, §1. Generally, p. 7
Statutes may, of course, be so worded as to require a license for the carrying on of certain activities only in the event that they are carried on by a corporation.16 And corporations may, conceivably, be expressly exempted from certain licensing requirements.17 In the absence of particularization or exemption, however, a licensing statute will ordinarily be construed as applying regardless of the form of the entity or person carrying on the specified activities.18 51 Am. Jur.2d., LICENSES AND PERMITS, PART ONE, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, I. GENERAL, §42. Generally, p. 49 V. WHO IS SUBJECT TO LICENSE LEGISLATION
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/commercial-drivers-license/drivers
LEGAL DEFINITIONS
License. A personal privilege to do some particular act or series of acts on land without possessing any estate or interest therein, and is ordinarily revocable at the will of the licensor and is not assignable. Lehman v. Williamson, 35 Colo.App. 372, 533 P.2d 63, 65. The permission by competent authority to do an act which, without such permission, would be illegal, a trespass, a tort, or otherwise not allowable. People v. Henderson 391 Mich. 612, 218 N.W. 2d 2, 4. Black's Law Dictionary 6th Ed. pages 919-920
Driver's license. The state issued certificate authorizing a person to operate a motor vehicle. It is also often used as a form of Identification.[Cases: Automobiles West 136.] Black's Law 9th Ed. page 569
Driver's license. (1882) The state issued certificate authorizing a person to operate a motor vehicle; an official document of card stating the owner is legally allowed to drive. It is also used as a form of identification.-Also termed (in some states) driver license; (BrE) driving license. Black's Law 10th Ed. page 603
Driver's license. The state-issued certificate authorizing a person to operate a motor vehicle.[Cases: Automobiles West 136. C.J.S. Motor vehicles §§22, 257, 259-261, 277-279.] Black's Law Dictionary 8th Ed. page 533
Driver's license. The state-issued certificate authorizing a person to operate a motor vehicle. Black's Law Dictionary 7th Ed. p.510
Driver. One employed in conducting or operating a coach, carriage, wagon, or other vehicle, with horses, mules, or other animals, or a bicycle, tricycle, or motor car, though not a street railroad car. A person actually doing driving, whether employed by owner to drive or driving his own vehicle. Wallace v. Woods, 340 Mo. 452, 102 S.W.2d 91, 97. Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Ed. Revised 1968, p. 585
Employed. This signifies both the act of doing a thing and the being under contract or orders to do it. To give employment to; to have employment. State v. Birmingham Beauty Shop, Ala., 198 So. 435, 436. Black's Law 4th Ed. p. 617
Operate. This word, when used with relation to automobiles, signifies a personal act in working the mechanism of the automobile; that is, the driver operates the automobile for the owner, but the owner does not operate the automobile unless he drives it himself. Beard v. Clark, Tex.Civ. App., 83 S.W.2d 1023, 1025. Black's Law 4th Edition revised page 1243
Streets and highways. A permit to use street is a mere license revocable at pleasure. City of Boston v. A. W. Perry, Inc., 304 Mass. 18, 22 N.E.2d 627, 630; Lanham v. Forney, 196 Wash. 62, 81 P.2d 777, 779. The privilege of using the streets and highways by the operation thereon of motor carriers for hire can be acquired only by permission or license from the state or its political subdivisions. Black's Law Dictionary 5th Ed. p. 830
Permission. A license to do a thing; an authority to do an act which, without such authority would have been unlawful. An act of permitting, formal consent, authorization, leave, license or liberty granted, and it has a flexible meaning depending upon the sense in which used. Winterton v. Van Zandt, Mo., 351 S.W. 2d 696, 700. See Authority; Certificate; License; Permit. Black's Law 5th Edition page 1026
PERMIT. In general, any document which grants a person the right to do something. A license or grant of authority to do a thing. Matter of Building Permit and Zoning, 29 N.C.App. 749, 225 S.E.2d 647, 649. A written license or warrant, issued by a person in authority, empowering the grantee to do some act not forbidden by law, but not allowable without such authority. Black's Law Dictionary 5th Ed. page 1027
PERMIT. n. A certificate evidencing permission; a license <a gun permit>. Black's Law 8th Edition page 1176
Licensee. A person licensed; one who holds a license. Texas-Louisiana Power Co. v. Webster, 127 Tex. 126, 91 S.W. 2d 302. Black's Law Dictionary 4th Ed. page 1070
License fee or tax. Charge imposed by sovereign for a privilege. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. Publicker Commercial Alcohol Co., 347 Pa. 555, 32 A.2d 914, 917. Black's Law Dictionary 4th Ed. page 1069
License tax. A license, strictly so-called, imposed in exercise of the ordinary police power of the state, or a tax, laid in the exercise of the power of taxation. State v. Commercial Loan Co., 251 Ala. 672, 38 So.2d 571, 573. See license fee or tax, supra. Black's Law Dictionary 4th Ed. page 1070
Streets and Ways. City having right to regulate use of it streets by motor vehicles for hire may issue licenses; license being permission. Ex parte Schutte, 118 Tex.Cr.R 182, 42 S.W.2d 252, 255. Permissive use and license as synonymous, Aldine Realty Co. of Pittsburgh v. Manor Real Estate & Trust Co., 297 Pa. 583, 148 A. 56, 58. Black's Law Dictionary 4th Ed. pages 1068-1069
"A license is merely a permit or privilege to do what otherwise would be unlawful. The object of a license is to confer a right or power which does not exist without it. A license fee is the sum exacted for the privilege of carrying on a particular occupation or business, and it may be imposed either for regulation under the police power or for revenue, or for both regulation and revenue. 37 C.J. 168, ss 3, 4 and 5; 33 Am.Jur. 325, s 2." Payne v. Massey, 145 Tex. 237 (1946)
“To them may be added the case of W. W. Cargill Co. v. Minnesota, 180 U.S. 452, 468, where it was held that "the acceptance of a license, in whatever form, will not impose upon the licensee an obligation to respect or to comply with any provisions of the statute . . . that are repugnant to the Constitution of the United States.", Power Manufacturing Company v. Saunders, 274 U.S. 490 (1927).
