Re: PRIVACY REGULATIONS

[Chris Hibbert <hibbert@netcom.com>]

>>If you are stopped by the police, you are required to identify
>>yourself if asked.

This is not true.  If you're driving a car you are required to have a
license.  If you're just walking around, you're not required to have a
name, or to tell it.  A cop has to have a probable cause to arrest
you, and not giving your name doesn't provide it.  If you're surly, a
cop can take you in, but if you politely decline to identify yourself,
the cop has to work harder to find a reason to do anything.  Just say
"Officer, someone is waiting for me.  May I go now?"

This has been tested in court.  There was a black lawyer several years
ago who liked to walk a lot.  He lived in one of the fashionable
neighborhoods in LA, and occasionally got picked up becasue he "looked
like he didn't belong there".  He sued them and won in court every
time, and got the police to leave him alone.  [No, I don't have
references.]

Chris