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Sunday, November 27, 2005
Careful on dem Buses!
From today's Denver Post:
Court trip next stop for bus rider
By David Harsanyi
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
Deborah Davis doesn't consider herself a hero. Certainly not a modern-day champion of the Constitution. Yet, in her own way, she might be a little of both.
Two months ago, this 50-year-old mother of four was reading a book while riding to work on RTD's Route 100. When the bus rolled up to the gates of the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, a guard climbed on and demanded Davis, as well as everyone else on board, produce identification.
Perhaps it was that inherent American distaste for producing papers on demand, but Davis, who had gone through this drill before, decided to pass.
"I told him that I did have identification, but I wasn't going to show it to him," Davis explains. "I knew that I wasn't required by law to show ID and that's why I decided I wasn't going to. The whole thing seemed to be more about compliance than security."
According to Davis, the guard proceeded to call on federal cops, who then dragged Davis off a public bus, handcuffed her, shoved her into the back seat of a police car and drove off to a police station within the Federal Center.
While I was unable to reach anyone at the Department of Homeland Security on Friday to comment on Davis' case, the offense/incident report corroborates her basic story.
Though, it should be noted that, according to the arresting officer, Davis became "argumentative" before she "was physically removed from the bus and placed under arrest."
Good for her.
Davis - whose middle son is risking his life in Iraq while the federal government is demanding papers from and arresting his middle-aged mom - is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 9 and could face up to 60 days in jail.
Gail Johnson, a volunteer ACLU lawyer who practices at a prominent Colorado criminal defense firm, will defend Davis without charge. She expects the government to arraign Davis on two federal criminal misdemeanors, if not more.
The first states that citizens must "when requested, display Government or other identifying credentials to Federal police officers or other authorized individuals." The second says that citizens must comply with "the lawful direction of Federal police officers and other authorized individuals."
As Johnson sees it, there are numerous problems with the charges and she plans to fight them "vigorously."
"She was a passenger on a public bus," explains Johnson, who believes this case is about the fundamental right to travel. "She got on the bus outside of the federal area and she wanted to get off the bus outside the federal area. It's not her fault buses run along this route."
Legal issues notwithstanding, you have to wonder what ever happened to common sense? What exactly were the guards, who merely glanced at the IDs, doing? Is there a "no-bus rider" terrorist list in Lakewood? And if there is, how would the guards be able to differentiate between real and fake IDs?
And no, we needn't be absolutists about freedom. There are potentially a whole host of justifiable reasons for enhanced security.
In this instance, however, the Federal Center houses the Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Geological Survey and a section of the National Archives.
Not exactly Dick Cheney's super-secret underground bunker.
If safety at the center was a question of national security, why have a public bus route running through the facility in the first place?
"I'm just a regular, normal, everyday person," Davis says. "There is nothing really far out about me. I have been laid off. I pay my taxes. I have my problems. I am no different than anyone else. It just didn't seem right."
Ah, but here she's wrong.
She's not like anyone else. So let's hope more Americans act like Deb Davis, not another partisan hack acting the victim, but an average American who questions government intrusion into our private and public lives for freedom's sake.
Court trip next stop for bus rider
By David Harsanyi
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
Deborah Davis doesn't consider herself a hero. Certainly not a modern-day champion of the Constitution. Yet, in her own way, she might be a little of both.
Two months ago, this 50-year-old mother of four was reading a book while riding to work on RTD's Route 100. When the bus rolled up to the gates of the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, a guard climbed on and demanded Davis, as well as everyone else on board, produce identification.
Perhaps it was that inherent American distaste for producing papers on demand, but Davis, who had gone through this drill before, decided to pass.
"I told him that I did have identification, but I wasn't going to show it to him," Davis explains. "I knew that I wasn't required by law to show ID and that's why I decided I wasn't going to. The whole thing seemed to be more about compliance than security."
According to Davis, the guard proceeded to call on federal cops, who then dragged Davis off a public bus, handcuffed her, shoved her into the back seat of a police car and drove off to a police station within the Federal Center.
While I was unable to reach anyone at the Department of Homeland Security on Friday to comment on Davis' case, the offense/incident report corroborates her basic story.
Though, it should be noted that, according to the arresting officer, Davis became "argumentative" before she "was physically removed from the bus and placed under arrest."
Good for her.
Davis - whose middle son is risking his life in Iraq while the federal government is demanding papers from and arresting his middle-aged mom - is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 9 and could face up to 60 days in jail.
Gail Johnson, a volunteer ACLU lawyer who practices at a prominent Colorado criminal defense firm, will defend Davis without charge. She expects the government to arraign Davis on two federal criminal misdemeanors, if not more.
The first states that citizens must "when requested, display Government or other identifying credentials to Federal police officers or other authorized individuals." The second says that citizens must comply with "the lawful direction of Federal police officers and other authorized individuals."
As Johnson sees it, there are numerous problems with the charges and she plans to fight them "vigorously."
"She was a passenger on a public bus," explains Johnson, who believes this case is about the fundamental right to travel. "She got on the bus outside of the federal area and she wanted to get off the bus outside the federal area. It's not her fault buses run along this route."
Legal issues notwithstanding, you have to wonder what ever happened to common sense? What exactly were the guards, who merely glanced at the IDs, doing? Is there a "no-bus rider" terrorist list in Lakewood? And if there is, how would the guards be able to differentiate between real and fake IDs?
And no, we needn't be absolutists about freedom. There are potentially a whole host of justifiable reasons for enhanced security.
In this instance, however, the Federal Center houses the Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Geological Survey and a section of the National Archives.
Not exactly Dick Cheney's super-secret underground bunker.
If safety at the center was a question of national security, why have a public bus route running through the facility in the first place?
"I'm just a regular, normal, everyday person," Davis says. "There is nothing really far out about me. I have been laid off. I pay my taxes. I have my problems. I am no different than anyone else. It just didn't seem right."
Ah, but here she's wrong.
She's not like anyone else. So let's hope more Americans act like Deb Davis, not another partisan hack acting the victim, but an average American who questions government intrusion into our private and public lives for freedom's sake.
posted by Carol at 1:10 PM
6 Comments:
Her website is http://www.papersplease.org/davis
Thanks! This will be a case to watch.
Carol
I remember something like that happened back in the early 80s as well- when an African American man was bothered by the local Denver PD, asking for his ID-- which he refused (he was just a pedestrian walking around)
There was a huge furor over it, too. Do you remember that?
No, I don't remember the case in the 80's, but then, I was asleep in those days. I wonder if I can find out what happened in that case.
Carol
Davis' web site is VERY one-sided and has more spin than a Maytag dryer. It is worded in such as way as to stir up emotions and distract people from the real issues at hand.
The pictures of the pretty flags at the visitor's entrance to the Federal Center are nice, but they didn't show pictures of the eight-foot chain link fence with barbed wire which
surrounds the complex, and they didn't show the vehicle checkpoint where all visitors' cars are searched and checked underneath, and they didn't show the four-foot high sign
stating that, to gain entry, all persons must present valid identification and submit to a vehicle and/or physical inspection.
This place has 28 federal agencies, an Army Reserve facility, and 6,800 employees on a daily basis. That makes it the largest concentration of government agencies outside
Washington D.C., and that means it makes sense to take precautions to protect it.
I think standing up for your rights via civil disobedience is commendable; however, I don't think Davis will prevail. Why? The courts will be ignoring all of the "this isn't NORAD" hype (but hey, neither was the Murrah Federal Building) and decide on two basic questions:
1) What laws, if any, were broken, and by whom;
2) What Constitutional rights, if any, were violated, and by whom.
The reality of the situation is that cops asking to see ID is legal. Declining that request is generally legal as well (unless they have probable cause to suspect you have or about to commit a crime). Davis refused to show ID 3X and was free to go each time. In fact, she was told to leave. The courts have ruled that if you are decline a request to show ID and are free to go, your rights have not been violated.
"But they arrested her!" you say. Yes, but despite the hype, it wasn't for not showing her ID. She was arrested and cited for not following the lawful directions of the federal cops.
You might ask "What law gives them the right to refuse her entry?" The answer is there is no such law. But you've asked the wrong question. "What law says that they CAN'T refuse her entry?" is what you should be asking. Generally, laws tell us what we CAN'T do, not what we can. For example, there is no law that says I have the right to walk down the sidewalk, but there is a law that says I can't walk down the sidewalk naked. There is also legal precedent that says entrance to a federal facility can be denied unless ID is presented. So, no laws were broken by either requiring ID or by arresting Davis for attempting to enter the property, refusing to follow directions and interfering with a police office in the performance of his duties, which is what she was doing by staying on the bus, refusing to leave and resisting arrest (per the arresting officer's statement.)
The ACLU has stated that the case" is about freedom to travel." John Gilmore recently filed suit for the same basic premise. He refused to show his ID before attempting to board a plane. In Gilmore, the courts ruled: "In plaintiffs' case, he was not required to provide identification on pain of criminal or other governmental sanction. Identification requests
unaccompanied by detention, arrest, or any other penalty, other than the significant inconvenience of being unable to fly, do not amount to a seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Plaintiff has not suggested that he felt that he was not free to leave when he was asked to produce identification. None of the facts submitted by plaintiff suggests that the request for identification implicated plaintiff's Fourth Amendment rights. Therefore, plaintiff's claim that the identification
requirement is unreasonable does not raise a legal dispute that this Court must decide."
Substitute "significant inconvenience of being unable to fly" with "significant inconvenience of being unable to ride the bus onto DFC grounds" and you've got the same legal premise.
Here's a nifty little twist: the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that asking for ID is legal and that presenting it is a "consensual exchange." But Davis' supporters say "so, what? They didn't check it against any watch list or anything!" Here's the ironic part: If the cops HAD checked it against a list, they would have turned the "consensual exchange" into an investigation. And guess what? Asking for ID and doing an investigation without probable cause WOULD have violated Davis' 4th Amendment Rights!
So, if the ID check was a legal request and the arrest for failure to follow the directions of the cops is legal (it's on the books), then Davis must lose, since no laws were broken and her Constitutional rights weren't violated.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1130157956384
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00000111----000-.html
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/julqtr/41cfr102-74.385.htm
http://www.csp.state.co.us/academy/ar202.htm
The Gilmore ruling:
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200403/msg00226.html
Thanks for the info, Joe. If anyone is trying to check out the links Joe gave, it appears that they are cut off, but I was able to get the complete link by highlighting each one from left to right. Then, the whole thing was made magically visible.
Carol
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