NCJ Number
139236
Journal
Criminal Justice Journal Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1992) Pages: 243-260
Date Published
1992
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Although no California law requires individuals to present a driver's license or identification card to a police officer upon request, individuals often experience serious adverse consequences if they do not possess or display one upon request.
Abstract
The refusal to display documentary identification upon request or demand increases the average police officer's hunch or suspicion that further official inquiry is warranted. Similarly, in a misdemeanor arrest, an arrested person is at a disadvantage for not having and displaying the non-required documentary identification. An arrestee who displays documentary identification receives a notice to appear and is released; an arrestee without documentary identification is jailed. Some future appellate court decision may force the legislature to determine whether or not each person must apply for, obtain, possess, and display documentary identification. Such a law would represent an extremely serious reduction of the liberty found in the United States and other common-law countries. In contrast, Germany and other civil-law countries require identity cards, and California's law regarding driver's licenses and identification cards already lacks some of the protections found in the German Identity Card Law. An identity card law would further erode the liberties that are already being eroded by legal changes in the United States. Footnotes