[EL] Interview request

Richard Winger richardwinger at yahoo.com
Thu Jan 12 08:57:56 PST 2012


Social security has never made having a birth certificate a requirement for getting a social security card, or any other service from Social Security.  Thousands of people living in the U.S. were born in foreign countries for which it is impossible to get a birth certificate.  And even for people born in the United States, as late as the 1960's and 1970's, many counter-cultural people gave birth at home, and no birth certificate was ever created.  I worked for Social Security for 17 years and I know all the accomodations Social Security has always made for people with no birth certificate.

Richard Winger

415-922-9779

PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147

--- On Thu, 1/12/12, JBoppjr at aol.com <JBoppjr at aol.com> wrote:

From: JBoppjr at aol.com <JBoppjr at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [EL] Interview request
To: rhasen at law.uci.edu, dhmcarver at gmail.com
Cc: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Date: Thursday, January 12, 2012, 8:17 AM



 
 

There are a lot of reasons why someone needs a birth certificate. I had to 
present one when I was 15 and registering for social security and when I was 18 
registering for the draft.  I had to present one to get a passport. I 
think I had to present one to get a marriage licence 29 years ago. So one needs 
a birth certificate for many things and it is hardly an 
unusual burden.  Jim
 

In a message dated 1/12/2012 11:11:31 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
rhasen at law.uci.edu writes:
And for 
  those who don't have a birth certificate, the costs are 
considerably 
  higher.

On 1/12/2012 5:47 AM, Douglas Carver wrote:
> In other 
  words, all the nuns have to do is jump over a barrier that
> has no 
  business being there in the first place -- sorry nuns, and
> anyone else 
  who has to make that jump.
>
> It always strikes me as curious 
  that conservatives go ape over
> anything approaching gun control 
  because "some day the government will
> take all of our guns", yet they 
  are quite happy with incremental
> barriers to restrictions on 
  voting.  Anyone who has looked at how
> voting rights were stripped 
  from black Americans at the end of the
> nineteenth century and 
  beginning of the twentieth century should be
> aware that small barriers 
  have a way of becoming big ones.
>
> Douglas Carver
> 
  Albuquerque, NM
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 6:38 
  AM,<JBoppjr at aol.com>  wrote:
>> All the nuns have to do is 
  hitch a ride to the nearest licence branch and
>> get a free 
  identification card.  They don't have to get a driver's 
  licence.
>> Really hard!  Jim Bopp
>>
>> In a 
  message dated 1/11/2012 8:16:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>> 
  wgroth at fdgtlaborlaw.com writes:
>>
>> As one of the 
  attorneys for the plaintiffs who challenged Indiana's photo
>> 
  ID  law in the Crawford case, the assertion that the Indiana nuns in 
  South
>> Bend were engaged in a premeditated publicity stunt or were 
  deliberately
>> making a "political statement" is unfounded and 
  simply absurd.  After the
>> incident was reported in the media, 
  we made repeated efforts to speak with
>> these nuns and were 
  rebuffed. Their subsequent reticence to speak with
>> anyone about 
  their experience attempting to vote without ID belies any claim
>> 
  that they had a political motive.  And these nuns, who I recall were all 
  in
>> their 70s, 80s and 90s, were non-drivers for whom obtaining 
  required ID
>> would have been anything but 
  easy.
>>
>> Bill Groth
>>
>> ------- 
  Original Message ------- On 1/12/2012  12:08 AM Justin Levitt 
  wrote:
>>                
       I have a different recollection about the Indiana nuns 
  --
>> including     whether the IDs were 
  actually"readily attainable"
>> for 
  98-year-old     non-drivers.  And as I recall, the 
  majority of nuns in
>> the convent     were dissuaded 
  from showing up at the polls when they heard
>>     
  about their fellow sisters being turned away, which seems like a
>> 
  particularly poorly executed publicity exercise.  But I also 
  wasn't
>> on-site.  And I have no doubt that some 
  on-site thought it was a
>> publicity stunt, and some did not, which 
  does little to resolve the
>> issue.
>>
>>  
       Moreover, it's a fair point that Brad makes about 
  generally
>> responding to the substance ... though I don't 
  think the substance
>> of the"experiment" is worth 
  all that much in reflecting on the
>>     
  policy.
>>
>>       My problem with the 
  substance of the"experiment" (beyond
>> its  
     potential illegality) is that it to the extent it is intended to 
  be
>>     relevant to the debate over restrictive 
  voter ID laws, it encourages
>> uninformed policymaking by 
  unrepresentative anecdote.  (When you go
>> looking for actual 
  dead voters, you more often find this.)
>>
>>    
     The more thoughtful discussions about ID are -- as I think 
  you've
>>     pointed out, Brad -- driven by 
  data.  They're debates about costs
>> and benefits, 
  including different ways in which states may ask     voters 
  to
>> identify themselves, and different ways in which those  
     methods of
>> identification impact the 
  electorate.  The"experiment"     
  does
>> little to tease out whether asking someone to sign in 
  is     different from
>> asking them to show some form 
  of documentation is     different from asking
>> them 
  to show one or two state-specified     cards.  It does 
  nothing to
>> identify the relative impact of any of  
     those rules on real individuals.
>> And it does nothing 
  to identify     whether plugging the potential 
  security
>> breach is worth the     demonstrated 
  cost.  The video isn't intended to
>> do any of 
  those     things -- it's intended to sensationalize one 
  aspect
>> of the     problem.  Mr. 
  O'Keefe has shown a talent at succeeding at
>> this  
     part
>> icular goal.  But I'm not sure that 
  calls for a"substantive"
>>     
  response from opponents of ID laws.  If anything, it would call 
  for
>> sensationalism in return.  And I don't see how 
  that helps anyone
>> other than the 
  sensationalists.
>>
>>
>>       
  Put differently: if I manufacture a fake photo ID and sign in at 
  the
>>     polls using that fake photo ID, would the 
  fact that I've
>> surreptitiously videotaped it demand a 
  substantive response from     those
>> who favor ID 
  laws?  Or would that particular criminal act be     
  not
>> terribly representative of how the system normally 
  works?
>>
>>       
  Justin
>>
>>       On 1/11/2012 3:35 PM, 
  Smith, Brad wrote:
>> Perhaps prosecutors should investigate  
         and prosecute (and perhaps
>> not, if 
  cooler heads prevail); but         does that say 
  anything one way or
>> the other about the, what      
     should we call it,
>> 
  "experiment"?  If O'Keefe's experiment 
  is         correct
>> and it is easy to pull 
  the names of recently deceased         voters, 
  and
>> then to send people in to vote them, that would seem  
         to be pretty
>> relevant to the debate 
  over voter ID (at least         demanding 
  a
>> substantive response from opponents of ID laws) and    
       simply urging
>> that the testers be prosecuted 
  without that         substantive response
>> 
  seems an awful lot like an effort to change         
  the subject.
>>              
        If I recall, in 2008, a bunch of nuns in Indiana, 
  rather
>>           than get IDs which 
  were readily attainable, made a big point
>>     of 
  going down to vote without getting IDs, basically to make a
>> 
  political PR statement. O'Keefe's actions (or those of 
  the
>> people requesting ballots in his scheme) may have been 
  illegal           (I
>> don't 
  know on the question of voting the ballots), but in
>> spirit strike 
  me as little different from the actions of the        
     nuns.
>> A bit of theater to make a point, but no actual 
  harm to           the
>> integrity of 
  any election results done. While I don't
>> encourage that 
  (perhaps a small fine would be appropriate), it
>> seems a bit 
  churlish to demand prosecutions but not to address        
     the
>> issue the may have been 
  exposed.
>>
>>
>>
>> Bradley A. 
  Smith
>>
>> Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. 
  Nault
>>
>>     Professor of 
  Law
>>
>> Capital University Law 
  School
>>
>> 303 E. Broad St.
>>
>> 
  Columbus, OH 43215
>>
>> 
  614.236.6317
>>
>> 
  http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx
>>    
                        
                        
                 From:
>>  
         
  law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
>> 
  [law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] on        
           behalf of
>> Rick Hasen 
  [rhasen at law.uci.edu]
>>            
         Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 6:13 
  PM
>>                
     To: Justin Levitt
>>          
           Cc: 
  law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
>>        
             Subject: Re: [EL] Interview 
  request
>>
>>            
                  I never said there was 
  no crime.  I'm with
>>          
         Justin.  And I've urged prosecutors 
  to
>> investigate, which they          
                        
          now
>> apparently 
  are.
>>
>>
>>          
         On 1/11/2012 3:09 PM, Justin Levitt wrote:  
               Are
>> we 
  sure?
>>
>>              
       Federal law prohibits fraudulently
>> 
  "procuring" ballots in addition 
  to"casting" them,
>> which      
             might indicate that a crime is 
  complete even if the
>>            
     ballot is not voted.
>>        
             And          
            state law similarly prohibits
>> 
  "applying for" a            
       ballot in a name other than your
>> own, in 
  addition to"voting".
>>
>>    
                 I don't know 
  whether either of those provisions have
>>        
         ever been enforced, much less construed, for 
  ballots
>>       that have not been voted, and to 
  me, the more natural
>> reading is to construe them so as to apply to 
  procuring
>> ballots for other people to vote them.  But I 
  could
>> understand an alternative view.  And as I keep 
  hearing                 
  with
>> respect to this issue, whether the provision has    
               been
>> enforced in 
  such circumstances isn't a particularly        
           good
>> gauge of whether criminal 
  activity has occurred.
>>
>>        
             Justin
>>
>>  
                   On 1/11/2012 
  2:46 PM, Frank Askin wrote:
>>          
          I agree with Rick Hasen.  It appears that 
  none of
>> O'keefe's actors was stupid enough to 
  actually vote and risk a
>> 5-year jail sentence.  I wish they 
  had.... Also, it is unclear whether a
>> voter in New Hampshire has 
  to sign in before voting.  When I go to vote, no
>> one asks me 
  for ID but I have to sign the register so my signature can be
>> 
  compared with the one in the book.  FRANK     Prof. Frank 
  Askin
>> Distinguished Professor of Law       and 
  Director Constitutional Litigation
>> Clinic Rutgers Law 
  School/Newark (973) 353-5687>>> Scott Bieniek
>> 
  1/11/2012 4:53 PM>>>“Who in their right mind 
  would risk a
>> felony conviction for this? And who would be able to 
  do this in large enough
>> numbers to (1) affect the outcome of the 
  election and (2) remain
>> undetected?” Hasen wrote. 
  I'm not buying this argument. You could
>> make the same 
  argument against quid-pro-quo c
>> orruption, and the need for 
  contribution limits and compelled disclosure.
>> Quid-pro-quo 
  corruption is typically a felony, and yet we have contribution
>> 
  limits and compelled disclosure, in part, because the risk of prosecution 
  is
>> deemed insufficient to deter the conduct, or at least prevent 
  the appearance
>> thereof in the eyes of the public.  If the 
  appearance of corruption is
>> sufficient to support contribution 
  limits and compelled public disclosure,
>> why isn't the 
  appearance of in-person voter fraud sufficient to justify
>> voter 
  ID?  In return for Voter ID, we get: 1. Restored public 
  confidence
>> that it is harder for O'Keefe and others to 
  pull off a stunt like this.
>> 2. A method of detecting in-person 
  voter fraud at the time of the crime.
>> And because wagers are all 
  the rage this cycle, I'd be willing to wager
>> that a higher 
  percentage of the public believe that Voter ID prevents
>> in-person 
  fraud than those that believe limits or disclosure prevent
>> 
  corruption.  Scott Bieni!
>> ek    On Jan 11, 2012, at 
  12:54 PM,"Ryan J. Reilly"  wrote:
>> 
  I'm writing a story about James O'Keefe's new video in 
  which his
>> associates obtained ballots using the names of recently 
  deceased New
>> Hampshire voters and was hoping someone would be 
  available for an interview
>> on short notice. As far as I can tell 
  this is the largest coordinated
>> attempt at in-person voter 
  impersonation fraud, and it was conducted by a
>> group to show why 
  voter ID laws were necessary. I'm at 202-527-9261.
>> 
  Here's the video:
>> 
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-uVhhIlPk0&feature=player_embedded#!
>> 
  Thanks,
>>                
     --  Justin Levitt Associate Professor of Law Loyola 
  Law
>> School | Los Angeles 919 Albany St. Los Angeles, CA  
  90015 213-736-7417
>> justin.levitt at lls.edu 
  ssrn.com/author=698321
>>            
       --
>>            
         Rick Hasen
>>        
             Chancellor's Professor of Law 
  and Political Science
>>
>>        
             UC Irvine School of 
  Law
>>                
     401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
>>      
               Irvine, CA 
  92697-8000
>>                
     949.824.3072 - office
>>        
             949.824.0495 - fax
>>  
                   
  rhasen at law.uci.edu
>>              
       
  http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
>>      
               
  http://electionlawblog.org
>>
>>
>>    
       _______________________________________________ 
  Law-election mailing
>> list 
  Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
>> 
  http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>>  
       --  Justin Levitt Associate Professor of Law Loyola 
  Law School | Los
>> Angeles 919 Albany St. Los Angeles, CA  
  90015 213-736-7417
>> justin.levitt at lls.edu 
  ssrn.com/author=698321
>> 
  _______________________________________________
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>> 
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>>
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>
>
> 
  --
> Dilexi iustitiam et odivi iniquitatem, propterea morior in 
  exilio.
>
> (I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I 
  die in exile.)
>
>      -- the last words of Saint 
  Pope Gregory VII (d. 1085)
> 
  _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing 
  list
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> 
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-- 
  
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC 
  Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 
  92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - 
  fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org

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