National ID

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Aaron A. FELDER, Defendant. Crim. A. No. 89-492.

United States District Court, District of Columbia. March 7, 1990. Notes: [7] See e.g., Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618, 630 & n. 8, 89 S.Ct. 1322, 1329 n. 8, 22 L.Ed.2d 600 (1969). See also Crandall v. Nevada, 73 U.S. (6 Wall.) 35, 18 L.Ed. 744 (1867) (inherent right to individual travel between states violated by state statute which imposed railroad tax for every passenger carried out of state). As Justice Douglas noted in Aptheker v. Secretary of State:

"Free movement by the citizen is of course as dangerous to a tyrant as free expression of ideas or the right of assembly and it is therefore controlled in most countries in the interests of security. That is why riding boxcars carries extreme penalties in Communist lands. That is why the ticketing of people and the use of identification papers are routine matters under totalitarian regimes, yet abhorrent in the United States.... This freedom of movement is the very essence of our free society setting us apart. Like the right of assembly and the right of association, it makes all other rights meaningful ... Once the right to travel is curtailed, all other rights suffer, just as when curfew or home detention is placed on a person."

"The thought that an American can be compelled to `show his papers' before exercising his right to walk the streets, drive the highways or board the trains is repugnant to American institutions and ideals". State ex rel. Ekstrom v. Justice Court, 136 Ariz. 1, 6, 663 P. 2d 992, 997 (1983) (Feldman, J., concurring)