Hacker News Reader

To clarify, you can't be convicted in the US for simply not carrying ID. You can still be effectively arrested and detained for a while with little or no recourse in many places.

View on HN

You can be detained for virtually any reason, but an arrest is more serious, and requires cause. You "can be" arrested, or beaten, or held incommunicado without an attorney; like being arrested simply for not carrying identification, those things are unlawful.

You do have to identify yourself; presumably, if you're carrying ID and refuse to show it simply to be a dick, you're inviting trouble. But you'd have grounds for a complaint if you were detained and then arrested because you genuinely didn't have an ID card.

No doubt. Those who do not follow police officer instructions to produce identification, even in states without "stop and identify" statutes, will find themselves risking an obstruction charge. It may be dropped at the state/city attorney's discretion later, but it will create a very unpleasant period of time.

Case in point: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/418746_video.html

Reply on news.ycombinator.com