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Look, I'm just a little frustrated here that no one seems to have an appreciation for their rights as citizens, nor are they willing to support other citizens who assert their rights. And your having flunked civics was the only reason I could possibly imagine why you would be unaware of what your rights are. Maybe you just forgot. I really wasn't trying to be nasty, and I'm sorry if I offended you.

Apology accepted.

Now with cooler head prevaling, let me take another approach: There is an old saying, one you I am sure have heard. The rights of your fist stop, when it reaches my face.

The Police have a duty to protect us all. In doing so, they have to make judgements, and judgements are prone to human error. So how does a cop judge somebody, having met him for the first time and knowing that they received a call of 'suspicious' activity'?

Put yourself in their shoes and ask how would you have handled it?

As for me, if a cop thought I was doing something suspicious, he has my full cooperation. By our making their job easier, they can better protect all of us.

This guy does not have a leg to stand on. I do not see where producing an ID is a major cause celebre (sp?) for a leftist reporter.

Isn't there also the concept of active participation as citizens, in protecting ourselves? It first makes me think of "citizen's arrest", but... wouldn't his cooperating with the police, as all of us have been asked to do, at one time or another, be part of being a citizen?

Have you ever had a policeman question you about goings on in your neighborhood? They ask for information, write down your name and number, will look into things, etc... all of this entails active participation. The police protect us, because we help them to protect us, right? It's a give and take relationship.

"The Police have a duty to protect us all."

No, they don't. The S.C. has ruled that the police have no particularized duty to protect any citizen.

"Put yourself in their shoes and ask how would you have handled it?"

I would have followed the law that I swore to uphold, and if the guy did not want to talk to me, and I did not have any reasonable and articulable suspicion that he had or was about to commit a crime, I would've maybe hung around and watched him for awhile to see if his behavior was truly suspicious. Otherwise I'd just leave him alone, as I was required by law to do.

"As for me, if a cop thought I was doing something suspicious, he has my full cooperation. By our making their job easier, they can better protect all of us."

If a cop thought I was doing something suspicious, I'd want him to either arrest me, or leave me alone. It's not my job to make his job easier, it's his job to respect my rights as a citizen and not abuse them. I don't think that this is too much to ask, that the cops follow the law, do you?

"This guy does not have a leg to stand on. I do not see where producing an ID is a major cause celebre (sp?) for a leftist reporter. "

This guy does have a leg to stand on, and if he thought it were worth his trouble, would probably have no trouble finding a lawyer willing to take his case on contingency. Illegal arrest is a major deal, and should be dealt with appropriately. The principle here is that you don't have to show I.D. just because the police ask for it; the fact that it would have been a minor inconvenience for him is not the point. I'm glad he stuck to his guns. And I don't care if he's a leftist. He's still in the right here, and principle is more important than politics.