Travel in the USA Requires ID • Hacker News Board

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#31

Post by rmxt » Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 8:11 PM UTC

rhino369 wrote: post #17

Comparing an ID with "travel papers" is silly. An ID is an identification device given to everyone who wants one. "Travel papers" are licenses to travel. IDs are a tiny restriction on your freedom. Travel papers are a major restriction on your freedom. The stupid airfare taxes are a much bigger restriction on our freedom, IMO.

The post's entire point is that IDs are de facto travel papers. The reasons why we object to photo ID at vote time should also apply to general intra-US travel (or at least intrastate travel).

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#32

Post by xigency » Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 8:13 PM UTC

I've never had my ID checked to ride on a Greyhound bus.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#33

Post by mikeash » Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 8:13 PM UTC

rhino369 wrote: post #17

Comparing an ID with "travel papers" is silly. An ID is an identification device given to everyone who wants one. "Travel papers" are licenses to travel. IDs are a tiny restriction on your freedom. Travel papers are a major restriction on your freedom. The stupid airfare taxes are a much bigger restriction on our freedom, IMO.

What's the difference, exactly? "Travel papers" are used to control whether or not you're allowed to travel. ID checks are also used to control whether or not you're allowed to travel. (For example, one use of ID checks for air travel is to check the traveler against the government's no-fly list.)

Are you just saying that the requirements aren't currently restrictive enough to be worth complaining about? Because I only see a quantitative difference, not a qualitative one.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#34

Post by mherdeg » Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 8:14 PM UTC

I think you can still travel long distances anonymously using a bicycle.

Stephen King treats bikes as the canonical post-apocalyptic transit method — roads are too crowded with abandoned cars for automobile travel to be effective, and motorcycle travel is very dangerous (there is no ambulance if you have a high-speed accident).

But you can do a hundred miles in a day on a bike. That's not bad.

I've also never been asked for ID when using an Amtrak ticket, although my sample size is low (15 journeys) and I always use a credit card at point of purchase (either online or at a ticket counter).

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#35

Post by jasonpeacock » Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 8:14 PM UTC

There's a lot of FUD in the article.

Most (all?) states have no requirement to carry or present ID to officers - you only have to give your name, and sometimes your address depending on the state. There's no Federal requirement to carry ID.

To operate a motor vehicle you need a driver's licence...but your passengers don't. What about riding the bus? You can get on the local Metro, Bolt bus, or Greyhound w/o an ID.

Hitchhiking doesn't require an ID.

Bicycling doesn't require an ID. Nor does walking.

You don't need a pilot's license to fly an experimental aircraft (but I'm sure there are other requirements for operating from an airport).

Hangliding/parasailing doesn't require an ID.

So...only through a commercial airline (private jets don't require IDs) requires proof of identify.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#36

Post by IgorPartola » Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 8:14 PM UTC

imglorp wrote: post #23

rhino369 wrote: post #17

Comparing an ID with "travel papers" is silly. An ID is an identification device given to everyone who wants one. "Travel papers" are licenses to travel. IDs are a tiny restriction on your freedom. Travel papers are a major restriction on your freedom. The stupid airfare taxes are a much bigger restriction on our freedom, IMO.

Three words: No Fly List. There is no transparency to that process, no way to find out if you're on it, no appeal, no recourse. That's tantamount to license to travel if not worse.

So you are saying that the current no fly list is as bad as having to apply for a license to travel every time you intend to?

They are different things. When the government says "you must apply for a license before you do X" it means you are denied until permitted. The current implementation of the no fly list seems to be "permitted until denied". That isn't to say the process of getting on/off the list is good, just that it's not nearly as bad as being denied by default.

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#37

Post by eli » Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 8:14 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #25

MBCook wrote: post #12

> We used to make fun of the Soviet Union for its lack of freedom of travel ("papers please"). You only need ID not pre-authorization. You don't have to get Idaho to authorize your vacation and Nebraska to allow you transit.

> You only need ID not pre-authorization. To the extent the federal government requires valid state-issued ID for travel but neither mandates states to issue ID nor prohibits states from rescinding IDs that they have issued, you in effect do need pre-authorization, even if the actual pre-authorization regime is fairly light touch, granted by default for long terms without specific travel plans, and rarely revoked.

I've heard of states revoking your ability to drive, but not your ability to have a State ID. What's an example of that?

(That said, I agree that if IDs are going to be required for voting, travel, etc then they should be free to acquire.)

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#38

Post by papi_bichhu » Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 8:16 PM UTC

kk

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#39

Post by geggam » Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 8:16 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #19

[deleted] wrote: post #14

[deleted]

> If it weren't in the Constitution even travel by horse would require a license and be a privilege. Travel by horse isn't in the Constitution.

The constitution defines govt rights. It does not define citizen rights. Check the 10th amendment

Re: Travel in the USA Requires ID

#40

Post by lettergram » Wed, Apr 15, 2015, 8:16 PM UTC

smackfu wrote: post #26

MBCook wrote: post #12

> We used to make fun of the Soviet Union for its lack of freedom of travel ("papers please"). You only need ID not pre-authorization. You don't have to get Idaho to authorize your vacation and Nebraska to allow you transit.

And the US is actually pretty good about not requiring you to always have Federal ID on you, compared to European countries.

I find it strange compare the laws of a state to others and say things like,

"It's pretty good compared to..."

They are different government types, founded on different laws, containing different people, and so on. The United States was founded on the idea of "freedom" so, it seems strange to require anything on you, unless it impedes others freedoms.