Originally Posted by
armandov9
You may very well be correct in regard to counties and cities, however I am still not aware of any state that requires a physical identification document. You merely have to identify yourself, not provide physical documentation.
Would you happen to be able to say exactly which 'several' states have this law on the books so we may research it? Or do you have a citation of some sort?
Again, when operating a motor vehicle, yes you do have to show a drivers license. Otherwise, again, I am not aware of a single state having stop-and-identify laws that require PHYSICAL DOCUMENTATION.
The Colorado statute specifically requires that a written identification when available be provided.
The reality is that the stop and identify statutes in the various states from the Wikipedia cite earlier in the thread amount to a de facto present ID when lawfully stopped or detained by a LEO. The statutes requiring that you ID yourself to an officer are backed up by various obstruction clauses, lying to an officer, false representation/ID, etc.
We can ignore your car example because a license is required to drive a car as has been explained eslewhere in the thread.
If a crime has been committed, a person can be arrested. Once arrested and taken to the police station, ways to identify a person exist including fingerprints, a search and verbal inquiries.
The notion that presenting an ID and holding "people . . . accountable for their actions" are related in the first example above is silly. As for the second example, operation of a motor vehicle is a clear and stated exception to the positions put forth in this thead.
Yes Ari, a license is required to drive a vehicle, but if the person is stopped and can't present their DL, then what? Do you think they're arrested and fingerprinted for failing to present a DL? Wrong. They will get a ticket, their car may get towed, but they're not going to be arrested (not likely at least).
As for the person who punches another person in a bar. Yeah, they would probably get arrested. They can provide a fake name and a fake date of birth for booking and as long as they've never been arrested before or fingerprinted, they're pretty much home free. They'll be held over until arraignment, given a court date to reappear, released either on bond or their own recognizance, and then when they fail to appear for punching somebody in the bar, a warrant will be issued to the fake name and the fake date of birth that they gave. Provided that they stay out of trouble that warrant will float around forever in the computerized justice information systems.
In both cases, the inability to provide an accurate ID card results in escaping further justice.
You didn't really think that the police or any law enforcement agency has a magical database of everybody's fingerprints did you?
Originally Posted by
LuvsParis
I think being stopped to be reminded that our car registration would expire in 3 days was an unnecessary stop. At 11 pm on a dark and deserted road.
The sticker was back home in California, and we would be home 1 day before it needed to be put on.
I guess procrastinating is a stoppable offense in Arizona.
That was a bogus stop. Unless they had another traffic violation they had no reason to stop you.