On 5/7/2011 16:48, Jim Henderson wrote:
> That's true in some states, but not in Utah.  In Utah they require an ID,
> and there's been a lot of discussion about whether or not that
> constitutes a poll tax or not.

Oh, I forgot to add, you can almost always get a government ID for free, or 
the government would have a hard time requiring you to have an ID to get 
various services. E.g., most anywhere you get a driver's license, you can go 
to get a non-driver ID using the same evidence you use to prove your ID.

So, in other words, the ID isn't to ID you. It's to prove you're allowed to 
do whatever the ID is allowing you to do, here. You never actually have to 
prove you are who you say you are, AFAIK. You only have to prove you have a 
right to get what you're after, and sometimes that involves providing some 
sort of ID that can be checked. If the police stop you just walking down the 
road, you don't have to prove who you are, even if they decide to arrest you 
for something.  (The whole "right to not incriminate yourself" is about as 
well supported as the "right to free speech" bit here, unlike many other of 
the supposedly involatile rights.)

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Coding without comments is like
    driving without turn signals."

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