States May Disobey Drivers License Rules

Newsday ^ | May 10, 2005 | Suzanne Gamboa

[auzerais]

States May Disobey Driver's License Rules

By SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press Writer May 10, 2005, 8:19 AM EDT

WASHINGTON -- States are threatening to challenge in court and even disobey new orders from Congress to start issuing more uniform driver's licenses and verify the citizenship or legal status of people getting them.

There is concern among some states that they'll get stuck with a large tab to pay for implementing the new rules and that getting a driver's license will become a bigger headache for law-abiding residents.

"Governors are looking at all their options. If more than half of the governors agree we're not going

[jude24]

The Interstate Commerce clause allows Congress to regulate the channels of commerce, which the Interstate Highway System clearly is.

[nunya bidness]

Interesting development.

[jsbankston]

In Austin Texas the Police will not arrest illegals due to their status and will not call INS when an illegal is arrested for a crime or interviewed by Police.

The Function of this policy is to not intimidate the Illegals to go to Police when they are victim of or witness a crime. As a result Crime Rates have dropped and rates of arrest have increased.

[gubamyster]

ping

[dirtboy]

As a result Crime Rates have dropped and rates of arrest have increased.

Gee, imagine if we just didn't allow illegals to stream over our border in the first place, and remove illegals when we find them.

Nah, that's much too simple in this day and age of nuance.

[blackie]

Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!

Be Ever Vigilant!

Minutemen Patriots ~ Bump!

[KevinDavis]

Probaly the we gotta do something about illegal aliens no matter what it takes clause...

[DLfromthedesert]

Bingo!!! Wait til they start branding us like cattle!

[VRing]

"More like built and maintained by the states but the money comes from Washington"

Tell me one more time where this money comes from. Except this time, think before you answer.

[DLfromthedesert]

Washington has no money, except what WE send them; then they dole it back to us in bits and pieces with LOTS of regs attached, and it goes through HUGH bureaucracies first which sucks up half of what they got.

[DLfromthedesert]

But we're FREE!!!!

[NJ_gent]

How many of the 9/11 hijackers had perfectly valid, legal, Federal government IDs when they attacked the United States and murdered thousands of our citizens?

[jackbenimble]

And the provision in the Constitution authorizing the Congress to make such an edict?

Actually the article is poorly written. There is no such edict.

There is nothing in the Real ID Act that forces the states to standardize their licenses or verify citizenship. They are strongly encouraged to take these steps but they are free to issue licenses to whomsoever they please. This is Constitutionally proper and states rights' have been maintained.

What the Real ID Act says is that drivers licenses from states that do not comply with the voluntary guidelines will not be acceptable as Federal ID for such purposes as entering Federal Buildings or boarding airplanes. Clearly the Federal government has the Constitutional authority to say what kind of ID is acceptable for entering Federal Buildings and the Interstate Commerce provisions of the Constitution have always given the Federal Government the power to regulate the airports and the commercial airline industry.

There is nothing in the Constitution that says the Federal Government has to accept bogus drivers licenses that are issued by the states particularly when some of those states refuse to take basic security precautions such as verifying the citizenship, legal status or even the true identity of the person to whom they are issuing a license. Those states are endangering all of us in every other state that has a saner policy.

People who live in states whose State Government uses their states' rights authority to not conform with the new standards will still be able to fly and enter Federal Buildings. They will just need to get an acceptable alternative form of Federal ID. It is called a passport. I suspect the citizens of those states will find this sufficiently irritating so that they will pressure their state legislatures to comply with the voluntary Federal standards.

[eyedigress]

You are correct. Some forget that security is the downfall of freedom.

[NJ_gent]

"Note: Please don't flame me everyone, I'm not saying they're right, simply noting what the answer will be."

Thanks for adding that, I was ready to tear you a new one for invoking the vaunted 'Interstate Commerce' clause. I'm so sick of that being used to justify the overreaching of Federal power that I'm ready to call for a new Amendment to strike the damn thing entirely.

[Grut]

I fail to see how demanding that states actually check before granting a driver's license to see if a person is who they say they are, and that they are in this country legally, will lead to having to "show papers" in order to go anywhere.

Let me take a run at it. A drivers license verifies that the person to whom it was issued is a competent driver. Whether or not he's a citizen, or who he says he is, isn't really germane; the only question is "can he, whoever he is, meet the standards set for being a safe driver?"

So the ID part of the license (except as it shows the person holding the license to be the one to whom it was issued) is extraneous to the license's function. The only reason to have it is if you're adding ID as a separate function... and if you are, then you are going to want to be able to require people to show that ID on demand. Why else have the thing?

Suppose we just got rid of the driver competency aspect of the thing and required every state to issue an ID card that certified the bearer had passed a background check and was who he said he was. Is there any doubt that a demand to see that ID would quickly become the first step in any dealings with the government, including those the government initiated?

[Age of Reason]

And the provision in the Constitution authorizing the Congress to make such an edict?

I believe it is legal for the states to ignore such rules set by the federal government.

However might the federal goverment stop certain funding to such states?

[NJ_gent]

"I've got no problem with requiring legal status or citizenship before issuing a license."

I don't either, but that's for the states to decide. If the states decide that $5 and a pack of baseball cards is enough to get your license, then the Federal government should butt out of it. I find it amusingly disturbing that some people here are calling for the same Federal blackmail that got us the 'over 21' drinking laws. The Federal government blackmails the states into doing things when it can't forceably legislate them as per the Constitution.

What the heck is the point of having state governments if the Federal government just tells them what to do anyway? Why on Earth should I bother voting for a guy to go to Trenton if he's just going to be overruled by a guy in DC?

[Ragnorak]

The Interstate Commerce clause allows Congress to regulate the channels of commerce, which the Interstate Highway System clearly is.

It isn't that simple. Even the 55 MPH Speed Limit mandate was only a "safe harbor" deal. Basically a State was guaranteed a minimum share of federal highway money if it reduced its speed limit to 55. The feds don't have the authority to mandate a 55 MPH limit.

We as a matter of custom and convenience use a DL as a primary form of ID, but legally it is only an intrastate license to operate a motor vehicle.

The Eisenhower interstate highway system was funded as a national defense measure to get tanks from point A to point B not as a commerce initiative. States were responsible for the exit and entry ramps.

Even if we assume that interstate highways exist purely for interstate commerce, that interstate commerce is done with tractor trailers which already have their own class of license. It does not follow that a state license that is separate from the operation of the vehicle used in intrastate commerce falls under Federal control.

[eyedigress]

Ahh.. The extortion of the federal government must ....hopefully.... end somewhere.