Posted by Jonathan Adler:
DHS to Seek Replacement of "REAL ID":
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_06_14-2009_06_20.shtml#1244988561
From the Washington Post:
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wants to repeal and
replace the controversial, $4 billion domestic security initiative
known as Real ID, which calls for placing more secure licenses in
the hands of 245 million Americans by 2017. The new proposal,
called Pass ID, would be cheaper, less rigorous and partly funded
by federal grants, according to draft legislation that Napolitano's
Senate allies plan to introduce as early as tomorrow.
The rebranding effort follows months of talks with the National
Governors Association and poses political risk for Obama as well as
Napolitano, a former NGA chairwoman who wants to soothe strained
relations with the states without appearing to retreat on a
recommendation by the 9/11 Commission. . . .
Eleven states have refused to participate in Real ID despite a Dec.
31 federal deadline.
"The department's goal is to fix, not repeal" Real ID, allowing all
jurisdictions to comply by year's end, said a DHS official, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity before a formal announcement. .
. .
The new plan keeps elements of Real ID, such as requiring a digital
photograph, signature and machine-readable features such as a bar
code. States also will still need to verify applicants' identities
and legal status by checking federal immigration, Social Security
and State Department databases.
But it eliminates demands for new databases -- linked through a
national data hub -- that would allow all states to store and
cross-check such information, and a requirement that motor vehicle
departments verify birth certificates with originating agencies, a
bid to fight identity theft.
Instead, it adds stronger privacy controls and limits such
development to a pilot program in Mississippi. DHS would have nine
months to write new regulations, and states would have five years
to reissue all licenses, with completion expected in 2016.
Supporters saw a slimmer measure as better than nothing. But
critics said the changes gut the law, weakening tools to fight
fraud and learn whether bad drivers, drug runners or counterfeiters
have licenses in more than one state.
The story also notes that "privacy groups" think the changes do not go
far enough, and REAL ID should be scrapped.
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