Making Faces

Thanks to reader Chris Howell for alerting us that the celebrated case of the veiled driver's license photo goes to trial in Florida today. I have no sympathy for Sultaana Freeman and would be comfortable with an "If you don't like it don't drive" response to her predicament. But it will be interesting to see the state try to prove that it has a compelling interest in taking mugshots of law-abiding citizens. (Which Freeman is not, by the way: She has a prior rap for child abuse.) "The photo is the primary biometric measure for determining identity," says Jason Vail, Florida's fortuitously named assistant attorney general.