May I bring up a couple of issues for those of you that think
Real ID is a good thing, or not a big deal?
Do you, or do you not, have a right to privacy? That is, in regards to Government.
There is the right to your private beliefs (1st); The right to the privacy of your home (3rd); The privacy of your person and possessions (4th) and the right against self-incrimination (5th - which further provides for the privacy of your personal information). Of course, there is also that elusive 9th amendment (Justice Goldberg in
Griswold v Connecticut (1965)). The Supreme Court, as early as 1923 (
Meyer v Nebraska) and up to the present, has broadly construed the "Liberty" guarantee of the 14th amendment as containing a broad right of privacy.
The right is not just implied, it has been assumed by the Court to exist, as part and parcel of our Liberties.
The Government simply has no constitutional authority to collect this data from each and every one of us. "National Security" is not narrow enough despite any compelling interest to violate or impede the right (
Griswold and
Roe - Strict Judicial Scrutiny).
Then there is the right to Travel. Nowhere listed in the Constitution nor is it implied, yet the right to travel has always been one of the "Liberties" of an American. The Supreme Court in
Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116 (1958) at 125-126, was very expressive on this matter:
The right to travel is a part of the `liberty' of which the citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law under the Fifth Amendment. . . . Freedom of movement across frontiers in either direction, and inside frontiers as well, was a part of our heritage. Travel abroad, like travel within the country, . . . may be as close to the heart of the individual as the choice of what he eats, or wears, or reads. Freedom of movement is basic in our scheme of values.
[note: If you think I have left something of import out of the above quote (the elispses), let me know. I have the entire quote and I assure you, nothing was left out, except further admonishment to the government.]
Yet, there is still one other area that has not been considered.
The Federal Government does not now and has never had any control over Drivers licensing by the States nor its recognition from one State to another. While the Feds may make a claim over interstate travel in commercial endeavors, it has no claim on personal travel. None. Zip. Nada. All recognition of such, has been through the States and mutual reciprocity compacts. Sound slightly familar?
A national ID, via Drivers Licensing or State ID is wholly beyond the Constitutional power of the Federal Government. A Single national database of personal information on each and every individual citizen of this country is also wholly beyond such authority. It is beyond tha pale of Federalism, that the central government should even suggest such.
ETA: Regardless of whether or not we already have a
defacto national ID through said State licenses, I'm against this as a matter of federalism.