An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
When Does The Law, Violate The Law?
Tennessee speeders could get fingerprinted
Motorists stopped for traffic violations in Tennessee could be fingerprinted if state lawmakers approve a bill pending in the legislature.
Currently, when drivers are cited during traffic stops, police officers ask for the driver’s signature on the ticket, but the proposed bill would allow police departments to eliminate signatures and collect fingerprints.
Supporters say collecting fingerprints would save money and help police determine whether the driver is wanted for a criminal offense, but opponents worry that it allows the government to tread on individual privacy rights.
This kind of bill brings up all kinds of questions. On the one hand, law enforcement would be able to discover if the person they stopped for speeding has any warrants out on them, or is wanted in connection, or questioning, or whatever, but then, they can do that when they run their name and license, right? Assuming of course, they give their REAL name, and the license isn’t a forgery. On the other hand, this is an invasion of privacy. Being forced to give your fingerprints? For a speeding ticket? Not a real good idea.
Obviously, I’m no lawyer, and I’m sure not a Contitutional lawyer, don’t even play one on TV, but it seems to me, this would be a violation of the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
And a violation of Sec. 7 of the Tennessee Constitution:
That the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions, from unreasonable searches and seizures; and that general warrants, whereby an officer may be commanded to search suspected places, without evidence of the fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, whose offences are not particularly described and supported by evidence, are dangerous to liberty and ought not to be granted.
Being forced to provide your finger prints, for a speeding ticket doesn’t quite mesh with that being ‘secure in their persons’ part, and is ‘dangerous to liberty’.
There will be some who say, “well, if they aren’t speeding….breaking the law….they have nothing to worry about, right?” That may be true, but who’s to say they won’t take it even farther. How about crossing the street against the light? Should you be fingerprinted for that? How about letting the parking meter expire?
State Sen. Joe Haynes and State Rep. Mike Stewart co-sponsored the bill, which gives police departments the choice of collecting a signature or a fingerprint, or collecting a signature and a fingerprint. The bill has been approved by the state House of Representatives, and senators will vote on the measure Wednesday.
I notice the party affiliation was left off, so I looked these guys up. What a surprise! They are both Democrats. The Tennessee legislature website doesn’t give party affiliation for the rep who vote, but I did discover that my state rep, Vance Dennis, was bright enough to vote “NO”. That brings him back up a notch or two. As best I can figure, my state senator, Delores Gresham, didn’t vote at all? 
Maybe I’m just confused.
“This police department (Nashville) intends to use the fingerprint the same way as a signature is currently used,” Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said. “If a person who has stolen someone’s identity gives a wrong name, an officer will be able to catch that immediately. And, if they have an outstanding warrant, be it for a misdemeanor or a serious felony, an officer will be able to see that as well.”
Yes, as I said, there is a plus side to this bill, but…..
If police departments use the fingerprints as Metro intends, then that’s enough reassurance for Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Well, if the ACLU is for it, then, golly gee….. (insert massive sarcasm here)
“As long as the police department is ensuring that it will not create a database using the fingerprints collected on traffic citations and that those fingerprints will be used only to identify the person being stopped and for no other purposes,” Weinberg said, “then the police department appears to be using the technology appropriately.”
Is she serious? This is the bunch that defends pedophilia, but won’t stand up for the 1st Amendment when it comes to Christians? I think I’ll have to pass.
But Rep. Stacey Campfield, a Knoxville Republican, is skeptical and takes issue with the legislation. “If someone said this 15 to 20 years ago, people would be rioting about it. Now it just seems like a lot of people are giving up and giving away their freedoms,” Campfield said. “It’s scary. I really think that these fingerprints will be used to create a database eventually, if not right away. If you don’t think it is, then you’re just kidding yourself.”
Smart guy, that Stacey! Wish we had more like him! And I agree. People would have taken to the streets, but no longer. They just continue to hand over all their rights to a government entity, and say, “Take care of me.”
I find it amazing that the people in this country, daily, are giving up everything that was so hard won. Blood was shed to give them those rights, and they toss them away like they were nothing. Even their own fingerprints. Make no mistake! This will escalate, and they will be tracking you. We may, or may not, have the technology now, but there will come a day when you will have to give your fingerprint to even buy a can of beans, or even use a public toilet.
I guess the sentiment of Pastor Martin Niemöller’s poem could apply here as well. They came for the speeders, but I don’t speed, so it was no concern of mine. When will it be our concern? When there is no one left to shout to the rafters that this is wrong? No, I’m not equating traffic tickets with Nazi Germany. I’m equating the lack of action of rational people, to allow these types of bills, that obviously are a violation of liberties, to continue. All it takes is one step.
OK, you KNOW I am VERY Pro Law Enforcement, and you know why, but here’s the deal, a traffic stop can turn up some seriously *bad boys*, but the officer making the stop runs the licences plates of the car itself, runs the VIN if necessary, runs the drivers DL number and Social Security, if those existing facts don’t throw a *flag* on NCIC, the officer writes a ticket and says good day to you!
Finger prints used to be submitted voluntarily if a person were not under arrest. Or may be submitted for government work and the necessary security clearances, but to force the finger printing of traffic violators simply to enter even MORE information into that BIG HONKIN’ DATA BASE that doesn’t exist, is just wrong…
Call me paranoid, but why do I think there is already a ‘data base’?