My Montana vehicle tags expire at the end of this month. In the interest of neatly compartmentalizing official Colorado residency duties, I decided I should also get a Colorado driver’s license around the same time I get Colorado plates. Thus, I headed to the Colorado DMV website to learn what I should bring with me. From its driver’s license FAQ:
To apply for a license, instructional permit or duplicate, you must:
- Submit 2 primary forms of identification. One form must establish lawful presence. Please see FAQ #1 for a complete list of acceptable identification documents.
- Provide your Social Security Number.
- Supply a Colorado residence address.
- Pass all required examinations (written, vision and road performance).
- Pay the required fee.
- Be fingerprinted and photographed.
The emphasis above was mine. So, um, I have to be fingerprinted to get my CO driver’s license?!
Refusing to believe that the website information was correct, I called my local DL office. They confirmed that one digital fingerprint was taken for “security purposes.” In other words, if someone came in to get a license claiming to be me, they couldn’t if their fingerprint didn’t match. Hmmm, for my security then? I was skeptical. As my local DL Office rep could give me no information as to where the information goes and what government agencies have access to it, I placed a call to the Colorado State Driver’s License Administration office. On my second customer rep, I struck upon useful though dubious information: Colorado is a “central issue” state. This means that once I apply for a driver’s license, my information is sent to the federal government in DC, it goes into their database, then my license is sent back to me. So for a recap:
Even though I am not a criminal, my fingerprints are now forevermore in a governmental database for no reason other than that I moved and wanted to get a new driver’s license.
This is a result of the Real ID Act which was passed because of its connection to a military spending bill (another topic of contention). The Act, besides violating my privacy, hands even more power to the inauspicious Department of Homeland Security.
So, what do I do in the meantime? Wait (my Montana license is good until 2012) until the ACLU has a chance to mount legal opposition to the bill? If I get my DL now and the Act is overturned, my information is still sitting out in a database. Realistically, I doubt that I really have any other option than getting a DL and being fingerprinted.
As part of the bigger picture, this legislation scares me. How much are we willing to give up for some perceived measure of security? Is living in a police state a price we’re willing to pay to “be secure.” Also, history shows us not to trust our government unconditionally, so why now are people so willing to give up civil liberties? Government officials didn’t suddenly get more trustworthy.
As they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Does anyone know the official status of the Real ID Act? Has the ACLU taken any steps to overturn it or test its legality? Can I refuse to give a fingerprint?
10 responses so far ↓
1 web // May 18, 2006 at 6:01 am
I don’t understand democrats sometimes. You guys have been beaten into submission by the ACLU and a liberal culture which has somehow convinced you that they sky is falling because god is throwing heavy objects at you personally.
I understand if your a career criminal why you would not want to be fingerprinted — but one of a sovereign’s nations duties is to protect its citizens — seemingly thats all there trying to do.
If you Nicole Swan — are running around killing people and they can somehow lift your fingerprint off a crime scene and its a direct match to your fingerprint on file, then there is a whole set of accompanying information and a jury convicts you — the system worked.
The judicial system which our government is based on works BEST when evidence is present.
Let me toss this scenario at you — some day a woman is robbed at gunpoint by a sassy and sexy female software engineer. Somehow all the scenario works out that you, Nicole Swan, were in the right place at the right time and you do not have an alibi. The jury uses all the information at hand and returns a guilty verdict after much deliberation.
Had there been a database of fingerprints the prosecuting detectives on the case may have found the actual criminal — not you.
What I’m saying is that this database is as much in DEFENSE of you as it also is there to help CONVICT you.
Don’t hide from facts, information and the truth.
2 Nicole // May 18, 2006 at 7:45 am
Actually, Mr. Webster, I’m a libertarian. Also, since when was protection of civil liberties deemed a “liberal” cause? Republicans have traditionally been in favor of less government intrusion, yet now the exact opposite seems to be true.
You apparently have a belief in the benevolence of our federal government. I applaud you for your unfailing support. However, history gives many examples in which this isn’t true. Take McCarthyism, for example. Many, many normal, innocent citizens were imprisoned, blacklisted, or denied employment because of their supposed connection to Communism and the security danger that supposed connection posed. Does the situation sound familiar?
I hate to trot out such an oft-quoted phrase but it is quite suitable in this situation: Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
Bottomline: I’m not a criminal, so the government has no right to treat me as one. That’s part of our legal system as well.
3 JC // May 18, 2006 at 8:50 am
“Had there been a database of fingerprints the prosecuting detectives on the case may have found the actual criminal — not you” Because, you know, the police wouldn’t even consider taking a suspects fingerprints to see if they match the ones at the crime scene. If Nicole was a criminal suspect I expect she’d be perfectly happy to let them fingerprint her… because that’s a legitimate reason to.
Fingerprinting to get your drivers’ license? No. Hell no. How is that protecting her? If someone was going in to get a drivers’ license in her name in the first place, it’d be their fingerprints on the card, and their picture, not hers.
Citizens of the United States are not required to carry around documentation which they must present to anyone at any time. A drivers’ license is your legal proof that you have passed your states minimum requirements to be allowed to operate a potentially dangerous machine. It should be no more than that. A photograph allows a quick check to see if the individual on the license is the individual *with* the license, in the event that the driver of the vehicle is operating it in an unsafe manner. A fingerprint is total overkill for the purpose of the document.
4 Nicole // May 18, 2006 at 2:44 pm
JC, you make an excellent point that I failed to include in my initial post — it’s a frickin’ driver’s license! As you state, a driver’s license is to prove that I have passed the minimum requirements necessary to operate a standard motor vehicle. It’s not a “I’m not a terrorist” card.
5 Daniel Nicolas // Jun 1, 2006 at 8:26 pm
Eric - This has nothing to do with political party affiliation. It has everything to do with too much government. The balance between the people and the government has been seriously tipped in favor of the government in the last 70 years, with huge gains made in the 30s and following septermber 11th.
JC - exactly. cars are 2000+lbs objects that travel at 65+mph. Licences are a way to separate those who are physically able to, and will keep themselves and other as safe as possible when driving these death traps. Don’t get me wrong. I love driving. I love driving fast. But that doesn’t change what it is.
Government ID ? I don’t think it’s appropriate. We don’t live in Germany in the 30s or early 40s. We don’t need “Where are your papers? show us your papers.” We don’t need documentation on us at all times. We need a licence to drive a car. We don’t need keep papers on us to stay a valid citizen.
I’m not a democrat. I’m not a republican. I’m not affiliated with any party. So don’t be hatin’
6 TR // Jan 13, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Nicole,
Clearly there is no valid connection between your DL and the NID card. As I am sure you know it is part of a much larger agenda. I - like yourself have watched this country transform over the last decade and have some serious concerns over our civil liberties and I believe this next year will hold the answers to just how far ignorance vs. awareness will play out. I do not believe all we have fought for can be lost to simple blind submission, even though there appears to be a lot of it! My faith in awareness comes in the light of the Internet. No time in history have we all been so connected? Just think of the French underground with their short wave radios defying the Germans to the end. Hey! I believe that would make a great website. The French Underground! I mean as long as history is repeating itself i.e. (Iraq,Iran), (Poland, France). Check out. ZEITGEIST, The Movie - Official Release - Full Film.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5547481422995115331
TR
7 NC // Jan 13, 2008 at 10:38 pm
As time ticks on, it appears to me that this truth movement has lost its momentum/direction. Yes, I agree that people discussing these issues and events are indeed, a great thing but what end has all of this actually reached? I am very much in support of the truth movement, as a preface, but after all the talk and debate, what’s next, what do we hope to accomplish? A few questions:
a) With all the video’s, websites, public /private discussions; Beside the obvious spreading of awareness/information what has been gained? So 90% of the population believes 911 was an inside job and doesn’t support the war in Iraq (and probably soon to be Iran. Take the current Strait of Hormuz incident as being very similar to the Gulf of Tonkin lie, this of course comes after the Iranian WMD claims/threats. We are lied to over and over, but people don’t seem to care enough to take action.
b) What good is voting if everyone running for election is from the same cloth? Yes, we can all see mass media is controlled by corporations that want to serve their own interests, so why buy into this dog and pony show? No matter what happens, as you can see every party will claim ‘vote fraud’ and the absence of trust for the electoral process grows. What does this all leave us with, no matter who we have as our next president, do any of us really expect any change? The oligarchy that is our current/true system will not change, just the puppet sitting at the desk in the Oval Office.
c) Key figures in the Truth Movement, Alex Jones, David Ray Griffin, Webster Tarpley, Jim Marrs, etc. all have done a lot of work and a great job in getting the word out about Fema camps and Gunderson Prisoner Boxcars, as well as REAL ID CARDS but now that we know, what do we do with this information? Lets say that 100% of the American populous is on the side of the Truth Movement… what does this equate to? There are mock tea parties and executive orders making these protest illegal. I can go on and on about the Patriot Act, wire taps and loss of Habeas Corpus, the Geneva Convention, CIA Black Sites, Americans accepting torture, but where does all this talk get us? I’m not promoting riots, or revolution here … but what does the Truth Movement hope to gain? We all know that the Gov. is corrupt what do we hope to do about it, what can we do about it? It seems to me, this another control mechanisms. Google some of the things I have mentioned above, tie this all together .. and you will probably reach the same conclusion myself and many of my friends have; That the American Dream is becoming a nightmare. Now ISP want to control what’s accessible on the Internet, this was mentioned a the last CES, Google it. Why do they want to control the information on the Internet, for your security. Soon, we may not be able to have these conversations. Then what? Then we subscribe to the new national duty, spend money we don’t have on credit, the modern form of slavery. There are too many instances of corruption and identifiable acts of dishonesty our Gov. is feeding us as citizens to include in this blog. Do you have a good feeling about the future of our country? …even with the 60% decline in the value of the dollar since Bush became president.
8 Nora // Feb 25, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I am a student at Csu i hv all passed all the requirements for my license but the only issue is that im an international student on a scolarship so i can’t work in order to get a social security number!!! would that be a problem? where should i go?
9 Christina // Mar 26, 2008 at 11:53 am
I am so glad I’m not the only one concerned about this National ID Card. I have been a Republican for many years because I believe in the motto, laissez-faire, (the LESS Government the BETTER) this new bill by the Republicans is an outrage and I plan to do my part to fight it.
You should all check out Arron Russo’s “America Freedom to Fascism” documentary, which was just recently on PBS.
It raises some good questions about the National ID.
Have a lovely day!
10 JC2 // Jun 2, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I recently moved to Colorado from New York. I put off getting a CO license for quite a while basically out of laziness and unwillingness to wait at the DMV. I finally did go last week and could not believe it when they asked for my finger print. What was worse was the speech I’m sure they are instructed to spit out when someone refuses (which I did) about how it’s for my protection and most importantly… What am I trying to hide from?? Hmm… I think it’s fascism I’m hiding from.
I am seriously outraged at this. This is the most unAmerican thing I’ve seen in my life. The fact that they are linking it to safety and freedom to “sell” this abomination just makes me sick.
Here’s another fun little tidbit, though unrelated: When I first arrived in Denver, I took some time to walk around the city and decided to get out my camera to take a nice picture of the skyline from the overpass of Federal over Colfax. This was in the evening, to get the cliche night time city shot. Within 10 minutes of setting up my tripod, I had a police cruiser pull over, demand my ID and they TOOK my camera. While one reviewed the photos I had taken the other explained to me that since the DNC was coming in 6 months they were afforded special security rights. They returned my camera after viewing all 200+ shots on it.
They both strait up told me that by law I had to provide them my ID. I gave them my ID to speed things up, but I did tell them that the law is actually quite the opposite and that they were very much misleading, if not lying earlier. I got the typical response “Oh what are you… a LAWYER??” They also tried to tell me they could search my bag but wouldn’t since I gave them my ID which was clean (Gee thanks guys).
After much discussion with them about digital cameras and of course my liberties the basic justification they gave me treating me the way the did was this: Photography is suspicious activity
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