Meet Dudley Hiibel. He’s a 59 year old cowboy who owns a small ranch outside of Winnemucca, Nevada. He lives a simple life, but he’s his own man. You probably never would have heard of Dudley Hiibel if it weren’t for his belief in the U.S. Constitution.
One balmy May evening back in 2000, Dudley was standing around minding his own business when all of a sudden, a policeman pulled-up and demanded that Dudley produce his ID. Dudley, having done nothing wrong, declined. He was arrested and charged with “failure to cooperate” for refusing to show ID on demand. And it’s all on video.
On the 22nd of March 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether Dudley and the rest of us live in a free society, or in a country where we must show “the papers” whenever a cop demands them.
[Via Boing Boing]
Meet Dudley Hiibel
February 17, 2004 by
i’m guessing — i’d even bet on it — that he won’t win. having watched the tape, his behavior is erratic enough for the court to say that this along with the violence report they were responding to is enough to initiate an investigation, which includes getting ID on who you’re dealing with — in part to know who to charge.
if his behavior had been less erratic, his speech a little more clear, or had he engaged meaningfully with the cop — it might have gone differently. in watching the tape, i’m wondering if he’s drunk, and if i had come upon the situation in response to a domestic dispute call i would have been concerned about the situation.
despite what this site would like to imply, it wasn’t like he was just leaning up against a tree out in the middle of nowhere having a smoke — things had been hairy enough for someone else to call it in, and then he gets a little flakey when the police respond.
the daughter should have more of a case than he does. there was absolutely no reason to treat her that way.