Know Your Rights: Stop and Identify

As I was returning home last night, I passed by a small sign indicating that a "DUI and driver's license checkpoint" was operating ahead. For those readers who may have never have had to deal with a suspicionless checkpoint, "checkpoint" is police-speak for "drivers will be necessarily stopped without reasonable suspicion, and may be tested for having consumed alcohol without probable cause". While this post will not deal with checkpoints specifically, it did remind me of the importance of knowing one's Constitutionally guaranteed rights when having an encounter with law enforcement.

One of the first things police usually ask for during an encounter is identification. Knowing when you are required to provide identification, and when you may legally remain anonymous, is extremely important for any patriotic American interested in protecting their rights. In Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada, the US Supreme Court decided that it was legal for states to make laws requiring individuals identify themselves during Terry stops, that is to say when a police officer suspects you have committed, are committing, or are about to commit a crime. Such laws are generally referred to as "stop and identify" statues. Currently, 24 states have such laws on the books and I would encourage all readers to become intimately familiar with the relevant codes in their home state. If your home state does not have a "stop and identify" law, then you may not be required to identify yourself during a Terry stop. I use the word "may", because officers may still find grounds to arrest you for refusing to identify yourself, in which case you would have to prove in court that the arrest was unlawful. That said, people can and do assert their right not to identify themselves to the police.

In this first video, the police make contact with a group of individuals holding a sign by the edge of the road. Towards the end of the video, the police ask for identification, the individuals state that they are not carrying identification and break off the confrontation.

In the second video, the police stop a vehicle for being parked illegally. An officer asks the passengers for identification, but the driver instructs them not to comply with the officer's request and explains why they are not compelled to do so.

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