It has always been the law: cop's can choose when to be strict
[QUOTE=Jc4024;1272449]That wasn't true years ago, but living in the "post 9/11" world has given law enforcement an incredible amount of power* so I don't know if this is still actually true or not, in the olden days of a decade ago you didn't have to identify yourself unless it was an actual "stop" where the police was detaining you, and refusal to provide I'd wasn't considered sufficient cause of wrong doing to trigger a "stop". It's possible this has been changed, but I wouldn't trust the word of a cop as to what the law actually is in regards to this. A few I've talked to are woefully misinformed on the finer points of civil rights, but given the people they interact with on a daily basis not many people with actual power really care about their misinformation. *Hell, there are "ex"-CIA agents running a domestic intelligence operation out of NYPD that operates in other states as well, let alone outside the city of New York. I know that sounds crazy conspiracy theorist of me, but I don't have the news article links off hand to show that it's been reported by reputable sources.[/QUOTE]It's always & everywhere been the law on the books, but cop's (& prosecutors) have always had "discretion" about how strictly they want to enforce every little detail of the law: if they want to do the paperwork to book you they can always find some niggling violation to arrest or detain you for; or, if you're friendly & nice & polite to them (& you haven't got any warrants out on you, & you haven't done anything they think is suspicious, & you don't fit any "wanted" description) , they can let you skate on "no identification documents" if you're just out walking (not operating any vehicle) someplace that they don't think is suspicious [b]but giving any FALSE identification WILL get you arrested if they catch on to it! [/b]
Separating the Men from the Boys
One thing for sure. With the current raids and crack downs, this is a time that really separates the men from the boys. The men keep on trucking through the tough times. It dawned on me, however, that I'm one of the boys and am sitting this one out. Be careful all.