(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Supreme Court has declined to expand the exception for suspending someone’s license for refusing to be tested for alcohol. The ruling involves the case of Alex Westra — who was pulled over by a D-O-T motor vehicle enforcement officer on I-80 in Jasper County in 2017 after he looked as though he was going to illegally used a median crossover.

The officer saw an open container of alcohol in the pickup — but Westra refused to take any kind of chemical test. He was not charged with O-W-I — but his driver’s license was suspended for one year for refusing testing. Westra appealed the suspension, as D-O-T officers at the time did not have the authority to issue traffic citations.

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled the only exception to the license suspension rule is if the officer was not justified in making the traffic stop. Westra did not appeal the officer’s justification and the Supreme Court ruled the license suspension should stand.

(Note the ruling was issued Friday)