Valov

We address appellant Jack Peter Valov’s claim that respondent Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) violated his right to the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, section 4 of the California Constitution when it refused to exempt him from state law requiring that driver’s licenses “shall bear a fullface engraved picture or photograph of the licensee.” (Veh. Code, §§ 12800.5, subd. (a), 12811, subd. (a)(1)(A) [prescribing that a driver’s license shall contain, among other things, “a brief description and engraved picture or photograph of the licensee for the purpose of identification”].) Valov, as an orthodox member of the Molokan religious faith, believes that the biblical injunction against “graven images” proscribes the photographing of a person’s image. The DMV had previously exempted Valov from the statutory requirement that a license bear a photograph of the licensee’s face. However, when Valov’s license was due for renewal in 2003, the DMV informed him that, in light of public safety concerns and the state’s interest in protecting its citizens’ identities, it could no longer provide him with a religious…