[EL] boarding plane without showing ID

[Spencer Overton]

While I fail to match Justin's eloquence, I address the airplane bypass
procedure and other analogies on pages 650-652 of my 2007 Michigan L.R.
article "Voter Identification."  Here's the link:

http://www.michiganlawreview.org/assets/pdfs/105/4/overton.pdf

Best,
Spencer Overton

On Fri, Sep 9, 2011 at 6:55 AM, Justin Levitt <levittj at lls.edu> wrote:
> Nope -- nothing technical about it. I'm hardly the first one to point this
> out, but for the last five years at least, I've been trying to explain
that
> the TSA -- like the vast majority of other enterprises in American life
that
> ask for ID -- prefers photo ID, but accommodates those who don't have it.
> You can find a brief description of the TSA's consistent policy here
> (http://www.truthaboutfraud.org/pdf/CrawfordAllegations.pdf), on page 23,
or
> published in Gilmore v Gonzales, 435 F.3d 1125, 1129-30, 1133 (9th Cir.
> 2006), or (if you can find it) in FAA Security Directive 96-05(1)(C).
> When I walked into the airport Wednesday night, I did not have photo ID
> (either govt-issued or not) in my wallet. At the risk of too much sharing,
> here's what I did have: two credit cards, firing range card, health
> insurance card, blood donor card, coffee shop frequent visitor card, and a
> few business cards. I was also carrying a checkbook. But no photos.
> The TSA officer looked at my boarding pass, and then had me step aside for
> some additional questions -- another officer reviewed the documentation,
and
> asked a bit more. Then I was asked to step through the (regular) security
> line, where my bags were screened, and an officer got to see a wholly
> unappealing backscatter picture.  The entire thing took about ten minutes
> longer than it otherwise would have. And worked exactly as it was supposed
> to. This wasn't a parlor trick ... it was policy.
> By the way, after clearing security, I enjoyed a beer in the airport
Chili's
> -- without photo ID. When I arrived in DC, I checked into my hotel --
> without photo ID.  I then made my way to the Dirksen Senate office
building,
> to the Committee's hearing room -- no photo ID.
> Photo ID, unquestionably, makes life easier for those of us who have it.
But
> it's simply not true that you can't board a plane without it.
> (By the way, I also think whether you need ID or not to board a plane is
> wholly beside the point.  Voting shows up in two Articles and ten
Amendments
> to the Constitution. It's a fundamental right for all eligible citizens.
> Boarding a plane makes it convenient to get from LA to DC, but it's not a
> constitutional right, much less a fundamental one.)
>
> --
> Justin Levitt
> justin.levitt at lls.edu
> On Sep 9, 2011, at 2:06 AM, Jerald Lentini <jerald.lentini at gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> I assume this comes up in the context of Justin Levitt's testimony (as
> reported by TPM - http://bit.ly/nKzCSQ):
>
> "'To get to you today, I had to board a plan from Los Angeles and never
> showed a photo ID. While waiting in the terminal, I drank a beer... I
never
> showed ID,' Levitt said. 'To testify before you today, I walked right into
> this federal building and never showed ID.'"
>
> When I read that, I just assumed it was a technically accurate but
> misleading statement: in my experience, I'm never asked for a photo ID
> before boarding the plane (i.e. at the gate), but I am always asked for it
> before entering the terminal (i.e. at the security screening checkpoint).
>
> However, upon checking the TSA website (http://1.usa.gov/2jtklg), it
appears
> that identification is a requirement-with-an-asterisk:
>
> "Adult passengers (18 and over) are required to show a U.S. federal or
> state-issued photo ID in order to be allowed to go through the checkpoint
> and onto their flight.
>
> "We understand passengers occasionally arrive at the airport without an
ID,
> due to lost items or inadvertently leaving them at home. Not having an ID,
> does not necessarily mean a passenger won’t be allowed to fly. If
passengers
> are willing to provide additional information, we have other means of
> substantiating someone’s identity, like using publicly available
databases.
>
> "Passengers who are cleared through this process may be subject to
> additional screening."
>
> It may well be, therefore, that Prof. Levitt was allowed to go through
> security without providing a photo ID.
>
> -JR Lentini
>
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 9, 2011 at 1:21 AM, Doug Hess <douglasrhess at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Several people have mentioned boarding a plane without showing a govt
>> ID. I guess I always just show mine, but I would swear they do ask for
>> it. They certainly do examine it closely, even shining some kind of
>> little flashlight on it (I assume to check the material in the
>> background of the ID for authenticity, like checking a $20 bill with
>> one of those special pens).
>>
>> Are people who don't show IDs just boarding at sloppy airports, or are
>> you able to refuse to show your ID without getting into trouble or
>> facing delays?
>>
>> Doug Hess
>> _______________________________________________
>> Law-election mailing list
>> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
>> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20110909/82939f52/attachment.html>