Deborah Davis

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Deborah Davis is an American citizen who refused to show her identification papers on September 26, 2005 to federal police when they boarded her Regional Transportation District (RTD) bus and demanded ID at the Federal Center stop near Denver, Colorado.

At the time of her arrest, Ms. Davis was a 50-year-old mother of four children, one of whom was a U.S. Army soldier fighting in Iraq;^[1] another son is a Navy veteran. Routine ID checks were done by federal personnel on all passengers, even if they were not exiting the vehicle. Davis was charged with three federal misdemeanors and faced a $100,000 fine and a year in jail. She was being defended by the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).^[1]

An ACLU lawyer, Gail Johnson, said the demand to show papers did nothing to improve security and was just an "obedience test" which violated the First Amendment right to freedom of association, the Fourth Amendment right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures and the Fifth Amendment right not to be deprived of liberty without due process.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

All charges were dropped December 8, 2005, one day before her scheduled arraignment. RTD rerouted their buses to go around the federal center in 2006. Supporters have called her the Rosa Parks of the "Patriot Act Generation."

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} "ACLU Defends Colorado Bus Rider Arrested by Homeland Security for Not Showing ID", ACLU, 23 November 2005. retrieved 20 December 2006.
2. ^ Abbott, Karen. "Refusal to present ID sparks test of rights; Arvada woman said 'no' at Federal Center while on public bus", Rocky Mountain News, 29 November 2005. retrieved 20 December 2006
3. ^ Sullum, Jacob. "Rocking the Bus"], Reason. Los Angeles: Mar 2006. Vol.37, Iss. 10; pg. 11. Source type: Periodical. ISSN: 00486906. ProQuest document ID: 983656251. (subscription). retrieved 20 December 2006.
4. ^ Brady, Jeff. "ACLU Defends Bus Rider Who Refused to Show ID", All Things Considered: Legal Affairs. National Public Radio. retrieved 20 December 2006
5. ^ Richardson, Valerie. "Coloradan faces jail for refusal to show ID", Washington Times, 30 November 2005. retrieved 20 December 2006.

[edit] External links

• Davis's story at Papersplease.org