Rocking the Bus - A Colorado woman takes a stand against arbitrary ID checks.

reason magazine ^ | November 30, 2005 | Jacob Sullum

[JTN]

The first time she was asked to show identification while riding the bus to work, Deborah Davis was so startled that she complied without thinking. But the more she thought about it, the less sense it made.

That's how Davis, a 50-year-old Colorado woman with four grown children and five grandchildren, ended up getting dragged off the bus by federal security officers, who handcuffed her, took her to their station, and cited her for two misdemeanors. Davis, who is scheduled to be arraigned on December 9, is risking 60 days in jail to show her fellow Americans that they don't need to blindly obey every dictate imposed in the name of security.

The public bus that Davis took to her office job in Lakewood, Colorado, crosses the Denver Federal Center, a 90-building complex occupied by agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey, the Interior Department, the General Services Administration, and the Bureau of Land Management. "The facility is not high security," says Davis. "It's not Area 51 or NORAD or the Rocky Mountain Arsenal."

Guards nevertheless board buses as they enter the complex and demand IDs from passengers, whether or not they're getting off there. According to Davis, the guards barely glance at the IDs, let alone write down names or check them against a list.

"It's just an obedience test," says Gail Johnson, a lawyer recruited to represent Davis by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado. "It does nothing for security."

Ahmad Taha, supervisory special agent with the Federal Protective Service, which is in charge of security at the Denver complex, said guards there have been checking the IDs of bus passengers since 9/11. He declined to explain the security rationale for this ritual or to comment on Davis' case.

After complying the first day she rode the bus, Davis began saying she had no ID and was not getting off at the Federal Center anyway. One Friday in late September, a guard told her she would not be permitted to ride the bus anymore without ID.

Before taking the stand that led to her arrest, Davis says, "I spent the weekend making sure that the Constitution hadn't changed since I was in the eighth grade, and it hadn't....We're not required to carry papers....We have a right to be anonymous."

Last year the Supreme Court ruled that a suspect in a criminal investigation can be required to give his name. But it has never upheld a policy of requiring ordinary citizens to carry ID and present it on demand. Davis "wasn't doing anything wrong," notes Johnson. "She wasn't suspected of doing anything wrong. She was a completely innocent person on the way to work."

Johnson plans to argue that the ID requirement violates Davis' First Amendment right to freedom of association, her Fourth Amendment right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, and her Fifth Amendment right not to be deprived of liberty (in this case, freedom of travel) without due process. A civil case raising similar issues in the context of airport ID checks is scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit the day before Davis' arraignment.

"Enough is enough," says Davis. "Our rights are being taken away a little piece at a time, and people are letting it happen."

Pulling out your driver's license may seem like a slight imposition, but the justification is even slighter. Since anyone can flash an ID, the procedure does not distinguish between people who pose a threat and people who don't. It does not even distinguish between people who are visiting the Federal Center and people who are merely riding a bus that happens to pass through it.

In a free country, citizens have no obligation to explain themselves to the government as they go about their daily lives. It's the government that owes us an explanation.

[ridesthemiles]

By your logic, the military can set up roadblacks on many US and state highways that pass through federally owned areas in the Western US.

If they took this to the extreme (consider BLM and Forest Service land, etc.) it would be like living under martial law. You think that National Park rangers should have the right to stop vehicles without a lawful pretext, too?

What is so friggin' special about federal employees and the property on which they earn their paychecks? Last I looked, it was THE PEOPLE'S property.""

The state I live in is 88% Government property or more.

[gridlock]

But in this case she was known to the officer checking the ID as a regular commuter. He even told her she had to show ID next time she came through.

You cannot check just some of the IDs. That is ridiculous. It gives way too much latitude to the officer. If you are going to check IDs, you check them all.

[Petruchio]

So, it is your contention that a bus enters on route "A" and leaves on route "B"?

[gridlock]

She doesn't control the route of the bus.

She controls her own route by getting on the bus. There is nobody forcing her to go through this federal facility. She knew it was there. She entered it intentionally and refused to show her ID intentionally. Not one thing here was beyond her control.

[gridlock]

I was looking at this map. It looks like the bus to town picks up people from the Park & Ride, enters the facility through Gate 4 and leaves it through Gate 1. The bus from town enters through Gate 1 and leaves through Gate 4, and drops people off at their cars at the Park & Ride.

[Petruchio]

That map is usless.

It only shows the bus stops on the facility, not the whole route.

[FreedomCalls]

Suppose you walked up to the White House local Post Office and demanded to be let in without showing ID. How far do you think you would get? Should they let you in anyway?

The White House as a residence is a special case. Does your argument hold up for any other federal building?

Now suppose you walked up to the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, instead... Oh wait a minute, you can't, because it doesn't exist anymore.

And guess what? Timothy McVeigh had a driver's license.

[Atlas Sneezed]

In any case, one does not have the same right to privacy inside a federal facility.

---

Maybe someone can explain to me how driving past a USGS building on the "facility" (a campus, really) is any different in security term from driving past the headquarters in Menlo Park.

All the defenders want to argue is the "authority", not the logic.

[Atlas Sneezed]

There is nobody forcing her to go through this federal facility. She knew it was there. She entered it intentionally and refused to show her ID intentionally. Not one thing here was beyond her control.

[Mulder]

That's how Davis, a 50-year-old Colorado woman with four grown children and five grandchildren, ended up getting dragged off the bus by federal security officers, who handcuffed her, took her to their station, and cited her for two misdemeanors

Saying "no" when all alone and confronted by armed thugs is one of the bravest things any human can do.

We need more Americans like this woman. And fewer Amerikans who grovel before bullies.

[JTN]

Any bets she is also opposed to the War in Iraq and the War on Terror?

Who cares?

[Mulder]

The FedGuv has a right to restrict access and demand ID

Governments don't have "rights". Only "powers".

It's a very critical distinction.

[JTN]

Interesting information. Thanks.

[Petruchio]

This is just another symptom of the disease that had brought on the downfall of many other civilizations . . . A Police State.

Can anyone point to when we went from Peace Officers to Law Enforcement Officers? Along with the name change was the attitude change.

I remember a time when Parents told kids that the Police are your friend. Not anymore. Law Enforcement is NOT a friend. The whole purpose of enforcement is to be in a position of power overlording the masses. A Peace Officer was a Public Servant. Big difference. One's goal is to preserve the Peace, the other is to enforce countless LAWS.

[Mulder]

It's high time we got serious about developing a top-notch biometric national ID system. No papers to carry, just yourself.

I'm repulsed by that idea, as any American should be.

You mention illegal immigrants as the primary reason for this, but the feds are doing nothing to stop illegal immigration right now. They aren't going to start once they get an Orwellian-ID system in place.

Constitution is not a suicide pact

There is no surer way to the death of our nation than to abandon the ideals of individual Rights that our nation was founded on.

To do so would transform us into just another country where the state could do whatever it pleased in the name of "security". America would cease being a special place. Rather, we would become no better than any totalitarian regime anywhere else. We would be "just another country" with 300 million worker bees. In a world of 6 billion worker bees, that means we wouldn't fare too well.

[Mulder]

when security was lax and people were killed as a result.

Security is primarily up to us as individuals. All of us have the duty and obligation to protect ourselves, our neighbors, and our Liberty.

It is not an accident that those nations with the largest security apparatuses (Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia) provided the least real "security" for their people.

About the only role the gov't has in providing "security" is to do so at the borders. Which, by the way, is the most cost effective method of security. But they aren't doing that.

[Mulder]

Since when do government have rights?

I see you caught that also.

I'm glad someone else here understands this concept.

[Mulder]

I would bet you dollars to donuts there is a sign on the side of the road as you enter notifying that vehicles are subject to stop and search and that ID is required

Just because some bozo puts up a sign doesn't mean that they have the authority to trump the Constitution or the Rights of a Free people.

It's a big country, with lot's of places that are not on a Federal facility. I suggest this woman spend her time is such places.

Spoken like a good little subject. Maybe some egotistical politician one day will declare the street in front of your house "federal property" and exact all sorts of harassments upon you.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Establishing bona fides.

[gridlock]

The linked article makes it clear that she was going to the Park & Ride facility. In any case, the Park & Ride is outside the facility perimeter, so she never actually gets off the bus inside the facility. Of course, my argument is that this is irrelevant.