U.S. Supreme Court: Public Anonymity No Right

Anonymous Arrestee writes "Today the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that anybody can be compelled at any time to identify themselves, if a police officer asks. People who refuse to identify themselves, even if they are not suspected of a crime, will be arrested. Sound Orwellian? The Supreme Court also said people who are suspected of another crime might not be subject to arrest for not revealing their name. On this latter point, someone will have to bring a separate case. And the SCOTUS is at liberty not to hear any case it doesn't like. The case is Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada [pdf]. Previous Slashdot story here."

Possible scenarios

[Faust7]

People who refuse to identify themselves, even if they are not suspected of a crime, will be arrested. Sound Orwellian?

"What's your name?"
"Rutherford."
"Rutherford is an unperson."
"Ogilvy."
"Ogilvy's a dead war hero."
"Uh--"
"To Miniluv with you!"

The Supreme Court also said people who are suspected of another crime might not be subject to arrest for not revealing their name.

"You are under suspicion for extreeeme bestiality."
"Uh, no."
"What's your name?"
"Forget it."
"To Miniluv with you!"

Re:cowards hide anonymously

[Anonymous Coward]

or slashdot, even

i mean, uh, no, oops, um, please don't mod me down, i'm not anonymous, i mean, or a coward, or trolling, or, um, ... albksl

^^^^
above poster has some kind of disorder and has fallen on his keyboard. please feel sympathy for the anonymous.

Re:Sound familiar?

[Aardpig]

My name? Jose Jimenez...

...you arrested my cousin. Prepare to die!

Easy way out

[isomeme]

I think it's very kind of the Supremes to provide such a simple way out of this otherwise intrusive situation. If a police officer asks you for your name, simply inform him or her that, as you are wanted for another crime, you would prefer not to give your name. See how easy that is? I love this country!

Of course it does

[Faust7]

"Your papers, please?"

Sallah (laughing): Papers? Of course!
(to Marcus)
Sallah: Run.
Marcus Brody: Yes.
Sallah: Papers. Got it here! Just finished reading it myself!
(to Marcus)
Sallah: Run.
Marcus Brody: Yes?
Sallah: "Egyptian Mail," morning edition!
[to Marcus]
Sallah: Run.
Marcus Brody: Did you say, uh...
(Sallah punches German Dude)
Sallah: RUN!

Re:Name only, not ID, serial number, or anything e

[jeffkjo1]

If all I have to give is my name, then I'm not particularly concerned. Just make up a name that doesn't sound too suspiciously bland (like John Smith) I think my new police officer name just became Bryan Wendy.

Of course, I will continue to list my address as
1060 West Addison
Chicago, Illinois
60613

And my social...
078-05-1120 [wired.com]

Re:Sound familiar?

[Telecommando]

"Your papers, please?"

"But, all I have is a pipe!"

Re:Sound familiar?

[Anonymous Coward]

"I just started grad school, I have no publication yet, sir!"

It works both ways

[ozbird]

You have the right to ask the police officer for their ID. If you cannot confirm that they are indeed
a police officer, you have no obligation to give them your ID.
(However, saying "If you show me your's, I'll show you mine" will probably get you arrested.)

Re:Name only, not ID, serial number, or anything e

[Fulcrum of Evil]

If all I have to give is my name, then I'm not particularly concerned. Just make up a name that doesn't sound too suspiciously bland (like John Smith)

And what if you really are John smith? Even worse, what about the Michael Boltons of the world?

Re:canada anybody?

[Aardpig]

so, how come we aren't seeing the mass migration of all you intelligent americans to canada yet?

It's already happened -- he crossed the border last Thursday.

You think that's bad?

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

Not only can they ask your name but if you meet a cop in the street they can look at your face, see how tall you are, see how you dress, see where you were at that moment in time and glean a whole lot of other information from you without even asking and without you even knowing. Hell, if you have a personal problem like acne on your face they can see it there and then unless you make a special effort to hide your face. It's shocking and nobody's even talking about what a scandal this is!

Re:Name only, not ID, serial number, or anything e

[DrInequality]

so what the hell? did the court decide? that his quilty but it's still not alright to ask for the id????

Is being quilty kind of like being blankety, only thinner?

Thicker surely? Come to think of it, all aspects of this case are definitely thicker than the average blanket. Quilty is highly appropriate!

Re:Backwards reasoning...

[Anonymous Coward]

yes, i agree with the converse poster, you should have posted non-anonymously, what gives you the right not to reveal yourself so we can laugh at you?

Re:Easy way out

[Herkum01]

Brings about an interesting "AH-HA" experience with consulting. Be prepared to address problems up front so that they cannot bring them up later. This is the best example I have heard of this,

The wife is in bed and the man brings 2 aspirin and a glass water. The wife says, 'I don't have a headache!'

I hope you get the idea now.

Re:canada anybody?

[pseudochaotic]

And by doing so, he doubled the local population. There goes the neighborhood.

Re:cowards hide anonymously

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it's so I post nekkid pictures of your sister on Usenet.

Change of name.

[wiresquire]

That's it.

I'm changing my name to "Fuck Off Pig".

Unusual Pronounciation?

[hugesmile]

I wonder, if you tell the police that your name is Bob Jones (which is just an unusual pronunciation of your actual name F-r-e-d S-m-i-t-h), if that is breaking the law.

They can't charge you for how you PRONOUNCE your name, can they?

Re:"And the SCOTUS is at liberty not to hear any c

[aliens]

Funny I get more work than I can handle, yet I somehow manage to squeeze it in.

Maybe the Court should be made up of IT people. We get the job done. Period.

8000 cases? No problem I have a bash script I wrote in '97 that will take care of it.

Re:Backwards reasoning...

[Anonymous Coward]

when all else fails vote from the rooftops

Pay no Attention to my login name.

[Mick D.]

I am Sparticus!

Re:Backwards reasoning...

[geminidomino]

If I went around pointing my gun at people to make them tell me their name, that would be insane behavior. Why is it ok if the state does it?

Because the state loves you.

Re:Easy way out

[thetroll123]

The wife is in bed and the man brings 2 aspirin and a glass water. The wife says, 'I don't have a headache!'

The point being: if you volunteer information, you get fucked :-)

ignorance = decisiveness

[notcreative]

When the only countries I can think of are Iraq, Russia, Canada, and Mexicoke, then I can conclude that America is the freest on Earth. Thank you American educational system.

MARGE: It took the children thirty minutes to locate Canada on a map!
HOMER: Oh, Marge. Anyone can miss Canada, all tucked away down there.