Re: IP: [FP] L.A. DMV Tries to Stem the Tide of Fake Licenses

[Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com>]

At 01:23 PM 11/4/98 -0800, Vladimir Z. Nuri forwarded
"ScanThisNews" <mcdonalds@airnet.net>'s forwarding to 
ignition-point by VIRGINIA ELLIS from last April - 
presumably the Digital Millenium Copyright Act means
that everybody here had better register or they're in Big Trouble :-)

Anyway, ....
The State has been forcing people to turn over private information,
such as SSNs and addresses, to an organization known to be riddled with
graft, information selling, and illegal issuing of licenses.
	"We have, in effect, created a cottage industry," 
	said Steve Solem, a DMV deputy director.
One of the big encouragements to this cottage industry has been
the anti-immigrant Pete Wilson administration's policy that
speaking Spanish causes bad driving so undocumented immigrants
can't be allowed to drive.  The article also points to other
groups of people denied permission to travel for non-safety-related reasons.



>SACRAMENTO - The California driver's license's preeminence as a form of
>identification has spawned a thriving black market for fraudulent licenses
>and a major corruption scandal in the state's motor vehicle department,
>records and interviews show.
>
>In recent years, as the lowly driver's license has been redesigned to make
>it more tamper-resistant, the card has increasingly become the dominant
>piece of identification for cashing checks, obtaining credit and securing
>government services.
....
>New laws have made a larger and larger pool of people susceptible to losing
>their license for activities unrelated to driving. The license can be
>suspended for spraying graffiti, failure to pay child support, truancy and
>certain kinds of prostitution. And immigrants who lack proper proof of
>residency cannot be issued one.
>
>"If you're a drunk driver, you want a fake ID," said Alison Koch, a senior
>special investigator for the DMV in Sacramento. "If you're in a gang, you
>want a fake ID. If you're a deadbeat dad, you want a fake ID. If you're an
>illegal alien, you want a fake ID. If you want to commit check or credit
>card fraud, you want a fake ID.
>
>"There is hardly a crime out there that doesn't demand some kind of
>fraudulent identification."
...
>Reed acknowledged the bad publicity was a wake-up call but disputed Peace's
>contention the DMV has a culture of corruption, saying the vast majority of
>the DMV's 8,600 workers are law-abiding.
...
>Birth certificates, which the DMV requires, are easily counterfeited, and
>phony ones are hard to spot, officials said. The appearance of birth
>certificates varies from state to state and sometimes, as in California,
>from county to county. Adding to the problem is California's open birth
>certificate procedure, which allows virtually anyone to get a certified copy
>of anyone else's birth record.
....
>Scattaglia said much of the counterfeiting may have its roots south of the
>border, but no one knows for sure because investigators have only been able
>to arrest the sellers, not the suppliers.
.....
>Banking officials are starting to rethink their heavy reliance on the
>driver's license. "That's certainly a trend that's underway because they are
>increasingly fake," said Gregory Wilhelm, lobbyist for the California
>Bankers Assn.

				Thanks! 
					Bill
Bill Stewart, bill.stewart@pobox.com
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