Get on the Bus

Prosecutors have decided to drop federal charges against Deborah Davis for refusing to show her ID while riding a public bus that crosses the Denver Federal Center. The Rocky Mountain News reports that "federal officials said the Davis case was closed because of a technicality involving a problem with a sign at the Federal Center at the time Davis was ticketed. The sign was supposed to inform people that their IDs would be checked." But the policy of demanding IDs from passengers, even those who are not getting off within the federal complex, will continue.

Davis' supporters say they will continue to protest the policy, starting with a "victory ride" on one of the buses following a rally tomorrow morning. "My anticipation is that the victory riders will be fully exercising their constitutional rights to travel freely in their own country on a public bus," said activist Bill Scannell, who suggested a mass show of civil disobedience was in the offing.

"Sign or no sign," said Davis' lawyer, "she and other Colorado citizens continue to have the constitutional right to travel by public bus without being forced to show identification to federal agents….I think if the government is going to insist on continuing to violate the constitutional rights of our citizens, then they're going to find themselves back in court on this one."

[Thanks to Ari Armstrong for the tip.]