In 2008, a Delaware nurse impersonated a doctor to obtain Xanax, a prescription medication, for personal use. The nurse pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation or fraud, forgery, or deception. The conviction became effective when the nurse failed to comply with the terms of a court drug diversion program.
In 2011, the Board of Nursing suspended the nurse's licenses for five years, with a chance to convert the suspension to probation after two years, based on the conviction for a crime substantially related to nursing practice and on violations of Board regulations. While an appeal of that decision was pending and the suspension remained in effect, the nurse worked as a nurse for eight months. The Board then permanently revoked the licenses for failing to comply with the suspension order and practicing without a valid license. The nurse did not appeal the revocation.
In 2015, the Governor issued a full pardon for the criminal conviction. A year later the nurse applied for licensure by reinstatement and by examination. The Board denied both applications, finding that the permanent revocation made the applicant ineligible and that the pardon did not change that result because the revocation rested on practicing while suspended, not on the pardoned conviction.
The Superior Court upheld the Board's decision on September 8, 2017, and the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed on February 22, 2018. The Supreme Court did not decide whether a pardon could ever require the Board to reconsider a revocation based solely on a pardoned conviction. It held instead that the revocation here was based on conduct unaffected by the pardon, namely defying the suspension order and practicing nursing without a license.