I've written a bit about "national ID card" proposals. This link may eventually work: http://search.hotwired.com/search97/s97.vts?Action=FilterSearch&Filter=docs_filter.hts&ResultTemplate=news.hts&Collection=news&QueryMode=Internet&Query=%22national%20id%22%20mccullagh -Declan On Sun, Sep 23, 2001 at 10:08:24PM -0700, Xeni Jardin wrote:
I fear it is naive to imagine that case law and legal precedent can combat the legislative onslaught to come.
All bets are definitely off. IANAL, but what seems most relevant to the discussion of "national ID cards" from the earlier 1983 decision was the court's affirmation that citizens shouldn't be subject to arrest for not displaying ID to law enforcement on demand. As far as I can see, the judgement doesn't restrict whether or not a law enforcement officer can *ask* for ID, just says that a citizen shouldn't be presumed guilty of some crime for not displaying it.
During los anos Clinton, there was some talk of implementing a national ID card system as part of his healthcare proposal, if memory serves -- and that idea tanked. Offhand, I'm not aware of other instances in US history when a national ID card system has been proposed + debated in the name of national security... surely this must have come up before at some point...
XJ