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John Gilmore's Search for the Mandatory ID Law
powerline22 writes "John Gilmore, the millionare who cofounded the EFF, has been prohibited from travelling because he refused to show an ID while boarding an airplane. He's been under this self-imposed ban since 2002. From the article: "The gate agent asked for his ID. Gilmore asked her why. It is the law, she said. Gilmore asked to see the law. Nobody could produce a copy. To date, nobody has. The regulation that mandates ID at airports is 'Sensitive Security Information.' The law, as it turns out, is unavailable for inspection. What started out as a weekend trip to Washington became a crawl through the courts in search of an answer to Gilmore's question: Why?"
But yet, you still buy things there. So they get your money, your repeat business, they know exactly who you are(or do you only pay cash...doubtful)...you've fully endorsed everything they do.
Here's how I look at it, I WANT them to check receipts. Why? Because it keeps people honost. Theft raises merchanise cost and I don't enjoy paying extra so some dork can steal the same stuff that I'm paying for.
"Same thing as when an officer pulls you over and asks if it's OK to search your vehicle. A nice respectful "sorry, but I refuse to surrender my 4th ammendment rights under the Constitution of the United States." is all you need to say." :(
I'm sorry, but the Renquist Supreme Court disagreed with you this year in the matter of impromptu car searches, in this case by drug-sniffing dogs. The usual rightist judges ruled that not only can police pull you over "just because", but that they can sic the drug-sniffers on your person and vehicle. It's important to win the War on Drugs, you see. A metaphor growing with interpretation, it seems.
You've no constitutional protection if you do not consent to idle searches, according to our beloved SCOTUS. Which is soon going to lose its soft and fuzzy interpretation of civil rights such as they demonstrated in that case, when Bush puts, oh say, ASHCROFT on the bench. Chief Justice Scalia, the Judge of God, Clarence Thomas, the Judge Who Doesn't Ask Questions, and Ashcroft... then Gonzalez, the Bush pal who wrote the new rules stating that torture is okay if the President thinks so, AND that the President is not subject to the laws of the U.S. or the oversight of Congress.
A true fascism is coming. Dogs in your car while you are getting your retinas scanned will be the least of it.