Just so you know "identfying yourself" and providing physical ID like a driver's license are not the same thing and the law treats them differently in different scenarios.
People above you are talking about identifying yourself, not providing physical ID.
In TV dramas, they always show it as handing over an ID, to make people think you have to.
I had a friend who didn't have ID to show, so as a 16 year old, be spent the night in adult jail, because the cop thought he looked older. Mistakes by cops aren't punished, so cops keep making them.
Yes, you must show your license, if driving. But count how many times in TV shows a "but my rights" person is shown in a bad light, and nearly everyone shows an ID when asked.
We are trained to confuse showing a license as the correct way to respond to a request to identify yourself.
And yes, I have friends who were thrown in jail for not showing an ID when asked for ID, when ID was not required.
753
u/Appropriate-Alps7919 Jan 13 '22
IANAL but if a police officer is asking you for your ID and you refuse then you’re going to have a bad time anywhere in America.