Thank you for contributing to the slippery slope. They require ID for all this other stuff, it shouldn't be a problem for them to require ID when I'm walking down the street, right? After they've checked it once, they should be able to check it again 20 feet down the road, right? I might have forgotten which card I showed them and slip up the second time!
No, they can't just stop you while you're walking down the street and ask for no reason. I think you need to look up the legal definition of "reasonable suspicion". I posted it above, from a couple different sources.
The point of all the protest against this law is that the only legal directive given in the bill is "go by a hunch". What does this law do that probable cause laws already in place don't do? Nothing, except discriminate against brown people.
No it doesn't, it stipulates "reasonable suspicion", with like probable cause, requires something more substantial than a hunch.
The current laws are not being enforced, that's the problem. This law mandates that cops do their job and ask people they encounter if they have a legitimate reason to suspect they are breaking the law. Currently, many cops do not for various reasons--even if they suspect--one being a concern that illegals will not cooperate or report crimes. This is just saying that in situations like that, they can and should be asking.
And if you are a legal citizen and a police officer asks for your papers and you don't have them, that's a six month sentence.
Only if you fail to produce them. The law doesn't specifically state a time limit, but in my state if you get stopped while driving without your drivers license, you have like 24 or 48 hours to produce it...say, if you accidentally forgot or lost your wallet. Or say, if you weren't expecting to drive, but had to drive someone who was intoxicated or incapacitated in an emergency...they are lenient in these situations. I don't see why they couldn't be in AZ as well. But again, they probably wouldn't stop you in the first place unless you were doing something that looked fishy.
no subject
No, they can't just stop you while you're walking down the street and ask for no reason. I think you need to look up the legal definition of "reasonable suspicion". I posted it above, from a couple different sources.
The point of all the protest against this law is that the only legal directive given in the bill is "go by a hunch". What does this law do that probable cause laws already in place don't do? Nothing, except discriminate against brown people.
No it doesn't, it stipulates "reasonable suspicion", with like probable cause, requires something more substantial than a hunch.
The current laws are not being enforced, that's the problem. This law mandates that cops do their job and ask people they encounter if they have a legitimate reason to suspect they are breaking the law. Currently, many cops do not for various reasons--even if they suspect--one being a concern that illegals will not cooperate or report crimes. This is just saying that in situations like that, they can and should be asking.
And if you are a legal citizen and a police officer asks for your papers and you don't have them, that's a six month sentence.
Only if you fail to produce them. The law doesn't specifically state a time limit, but in my state if you get stopped while driving without your drivers license, you have like 24 or 48 hours to produce it...say, if you accidentally forgot or lost your wallet. Or say, if you weren't expecting to drive, but had to drive someone who was intoxicated or incapacitated in an emergency...they are lenient in these situations. I don't see why they couldn't be in AZ as well. But again, they probably wouldn't stop you in the first place unless you were doing something that looked fishy.