I was ready an article today about the Utah Attorney General informing the Federal Court that the US Justice Department is looking at Utah's recently passed law on immigration, prompting the federal judge to postpone an upcoming injunction hearing (Federal Judge Waddoups issued a temporary restraining order against House Bill 497 only hours after the law went into effect in May)
I then read the comments, which you can read for yourself if you would like. I decided to post a reply to one of the comments, from poster Code Exempt.
Code Exempt [wrote]
"I still don't get what the problem is with a cop asking for a ID. If a person can't produce proper ID, I think the cop SHOULD dig deeper to find out who this person is."
Carlitos27 (that's me) [wrote]
"It saddens me that you would so easily give up the rights afforded all of us under the Constitution of the United States. The only time I will ever be showing my identification to a police officer is when I have been driving and a peace officer requests my driver license. I will then present my driver license. If, however, I am a passenger in a car, or am walking along the street, and a police officer asks me to produce identification, I will kindly tell him/her no. I value my constitutional rights, and will not waive them without a very good reason. If a police officer "digs deeper" to find out who I am, that action is, or will most likely lead to, a violation of the constitutional rights afforded me under the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution as well as Article I Section 14 of the Utah Constitution.
"As an aside, I am pleased that during the 16 months or so I spent in Mexico as an illegal alien, I was not treated as most of the commenters wish to treat those illegal aliens who are here."
I have no desire to go to jail for any amount of time, but I would risk upsetting a police officer, even to the point of being arrested, in standing up for my constitutional rights.
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