Real ID: A violation of civil rights or a necessary step?
Real ID: A violation of civil rights or a necessary step?
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
Maine has been at the forefront of the opposition against the Real ID Act, which mandates that states switch driver’s licenses and state identification cards into national ID cards that would be part of a nationwide database. A local discussion about that topic took place this past week.
Last Sunday, the public was invited to a forum being hosted by the Scarborough and Cumberland County Democratic Committees at Scarborough Town Hall. The subject was “The Real ID Act and Other Threats to Civil Liberties.”
The Real ID Act was passed in May 2005 by the United States Congress as part of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, the Global War on Terror and Tsunami Relief. It requires that, starting in May 2008, states must have identification cards or driver’s licenses that conform to standards for a “national ID card.”
As part of the Real ID Act, Americans would need to present their national ID cards to board an airplane, open a bank account, collect social security payments of take advantage of a host of federal government services. States would need to reissue licenses and identification cards that comply with Department of Homeland Security rules.
Another part of the legislation stipulates that all national ID cards must be “machine readable,” which could mean they would come with a magnetic strip, bar code or identification chip.
In January 2007, Maine became the first state to voice opposition to the Real ID Act when the legislature voted (34-0 in the senate, 137-4 in the house) in support of a resolution asking Congress to repeal the legislation and refusing to implement the legislation in Maine.
Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, was one of the speakers at the forum this past week. She said the MCLU’s major concerns lie with two parts of the legislation, one of which being the “machine readable” technology and its ramifications.
“Once readable technology becomes a reality, its use can be expanded and perverted in a number of ways,” Bellows said. “You might have to use the ID card, for example, at a big box retailer or on highways…the technology is unclear, but also limitless.”
The other major portion of the MCLU’s opposition to the Real ID Act, according to Bellows, is concern about the ramifications a nationwide database could pose.
“When you have this compilation of a huge amount of personal information in a centralized location, it becomes a one stop shop for identity theft,” Bellows said. “Once the database is in place, the possibilities are limitless.”
Bellows said the MCLU makes safety a high priority, but not at the expense of personal freedoms.
“We all want to be safe, but we don’t want to sacrifice our liberties for a false sense of safety,” Bellows said.
Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said his concerns about the Real ID Act are “more mechanical that philosophical” and that they center on “whether (the legislation) can be done and will it work?” He said one reason for questioning the legislation is that he believes it places too much pressure on states to perform federal government functions.
“The act focuses entirely on how states issue driver’s licenses,” Dunlap said. “It places the onus entirely on the states…you have all these immigration documents that no one can distinguish real from fake and then you ask a service rep at a local motor vehicle branch to be the last line of defense?”
Dunlap said he would “like to bring a touch of reality” to the debate on the Real ID Act.
Scarborough Democratic Committee chairman Neil Jamieson said his organization wanted to present a forum that “educated people and gave people a chance to have an opinion on something that is happening.”
Nearly 50 people attended the forum at Scarborough Town Hall. Other topics discussed included other civil rights issues currently being debated in Washington, D.C.
The Maine Legislature has a bill coming up during this session that would place the statements outlined in the Real ID resolution into law. Other states are also considering similar legislation during the current session, including Massachusetts, Georgia, Montana and Washington.
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
Maine has been at the forefront of the opposition against the Real ID Act, which mandates that states switch driver’s licenses and state identification cards into national ID cards that would be part of a nationwide database. A local discussion about that topic took place this past week.
Last Sunday, the public was invited to a forum being hosted by the Scarborough and Cumberland County Democratic Committees at Scarborough Town Hall. The subject was “The Real ID Act and Other Threats to Civil Liberties.”
The Real ID Act was passed in May 2005 by the United States Congress as part of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, the Global War on Terror and Tsunami Relief. It requires that, starting in May 2008, states must have identification cards or driver’s licenses that conform to standards for a “national ID card.”
As part of the Real ID Act, Americans would need to present their national ID cards to board an airplane, open a bank account, collect social security payments of take advantage of a host of federal government services. States would need to reissue licenses and identification cards that comply with Department of Homeland Security rules.
Another part of the legislation stipulates that all national ID cards must be “machine readable,” which could mean they would come with a magnetic strip, bar code or identification chip.
In January 2007, Maine became the first state to voice opposition to the Real ID Act when the legislature voted (34-0 in the senate, 137-4 in the house) in support of a resolution asking Congress to repeal the legislation and refusing to implement the legislation in Maine.
Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, was one of the speakers at the forum this past week. She said the MCLU’s major concerns lie with two parts of the legislation, one of which being the “machine readable” technology and its ramifications.
“Once readable technology becomes a reality, its use can be expanded and perverted in a number of ways,” Bellows said. “You might have to use the ID card, for example, at a big box retailer or on highways…the technology is unclear, but also limitless.”
The other major portion of the MCLU’s opposition to the Real ID Act, according to Bellows, is concern about the ramifications a nationwide database could pose.
“When you have this compilation of a huge amount of personal information in a centralized location, it becomes a one stop shop for identity theft,” Bellows said. “Once the database is in place, the possibilities are limitless.”
Bellows said the MCLU makes safety a high priority, but not at the expense of personal freedoms.
“We all want to be safe, but we don’t want to sacrifice our liberties for a false sense of safety,” Bellows said.
Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said his concerns about the Real ID Act are “more mechanical that philosophical” and that they center on “whether (the legislation) can be done and will it work?” He said one reason for questioning the legislation is that he believes it places too much pressure on states to perform federal government functions.
“The act focuses entirely on how states issue driver’s licenses,” Dunlap said. “It places the onus entirely on the states…you have all these immigration documents that no one can distinguish real from fake and then you ask a service rep at a local motor vehicle branch to be the last line of defense?”
Dunlap said he would “like to bring a touch of reality” to the debate on the Real ID Act.
Scarborough Democratic Committee chairman Neil Jamieson said his organization wanted to present a forum that “educated people and gave people a chance to have an opinion on something that is happening.”
Nearly 50 people attended the forum at Scarborough Town Hall. Other topics discussed included other civil rights issues currently being debated in Washington, D.C.
The Maine Legislature has a bill coming up during this session that would place the statements outlined in the Real ID resolution into law. Other states are also considering similar legislation during the current session, including Massachusetts, Georgia, Montana and Washington.
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