“Your papers please.”

Judy Aron at Consent of the Governed has an important story about military-style checkpoints being set up in a Washington neighborhood with mandatory police searches of vehicles, occupants asked their identity and their “legitimate reason” for being there, and arrests of anyone refusing to cooperate. Think about the meaning of American citizens having to show identification and explain to the police why they want to travel down a public street in the name of protection. This is the same police chief who earlier this year initiated a law enforcement program to search people’s homes for guns without warrants, as covered in an important post on the Constitution.

Full story here.