Woman boards bus again to protest ID rule

Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 10, 2005 at midnight

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LAKEWOOD - Deborah Davis rode a bus to the Denver Federal Center again Friday, but this time they wouldn't let her in.

"The bus is not going through the Federal Center," announced Capt. Don Kinney of the Federal Protective Service to Davis and five journalists aboard RTD's No. 100 bus.

On Sept. 26, Davis, 50, of Arvada, was removed from the No. 100 bus, handcuffed, placed in a patrol car, taken to a police station and ticketed after she refused to show her identification to federal guards.

Davis said she wasn't getting off the bus at the Federal Center but only riding through, as some other passengers were, to get to her job at a small business in Lakewood. She contends she shouldn't have to show her ID to federal police to ride a public bus to work.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and two private lawyers volunteered to represent Davis, and "No ID" movement activists also backed her.

But federal prosecutors announced Wednesday they would not pursue the case, citing a problem with signs at the Federal Center that were supposed to warn people that their IDs would be checked upon entry.

Homeland Security officials have said that guards will continue to ask anyone entering the Federal Center to show an ID, although one of Davis' lawyers, Gail Johnson, said the legal team learned Thursday that the policy is "under review" because of the flap over the Davis case.

Davis and her supporters rallied at the federal courthouse in downtown Denver, where she had been scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning.

There were speeches, and then Davis, wearing a red, white and blue scarf and a "No ID" button she made herself, and carrying a small American flag, rode a chartered bus to Lakewood and caught RTD's No. 100 at 9:30 a.m.

Three lawyers followed in private cars, dubbed "rightsmobiles," ready to rush into the Federal Center - after showing their IDs - if Davis got arrested.

Davis said she had arranged for someone to feed her dog and water her plants if that happened.

"From the beginning, I've been willing to go the whole nine yards," she said during the courthouse rally. "This fight has just begun."

She began to cry as she spoke of "people willing to give their lives to protect our Constitution and our freedom." Davis has a son serving in the Army in Iraq and another son who is a Navy veteran.

"Flashing ID does not keep us safe," she said.

The No. 100 bus, carrying Davis, the journalists, five regular commuters and RTD supervisor Ken Garcia, who loudly announced that IDs would be checked, stopped at the gate into the Federal Center after leaving the Cold Spring Park-n-Ride at West Sixth Avenue and Simms Street. A smiling federal guard got on.

"Do you have identification?" he asked Davis.

"Yes," she said.

"May I see it, please?" asked the guard.

"No," said Davis.

The guard got off. RTD supervisor Garcia got off. Two Federal Protective Service officers, in crisp navy blue uniforms, got on.

"I'm Jack McDonald," announced one officer. "Is there anyone on this bus right now who's willing to show ID?"

The journalists were willing. The five regular commuters were willing. Davis wasn't willing.

"If you're not going to show an ID, you're not going to be allowed on the Federal Center," Kinney announced.

RTD had a spare bus on hand to which it transferred the five regular commuters.

One of them was Tara Futch, who was on her way through the Federal Center to her job at Taco Bell. She said she rides the bus often and frequently forgets her ID, but always has been allowed to stay on through the Federal Center as long as she doesn't get off there.

Another passenger frowned as he stalked off the bus, muttering that he would be late to work.

RTD supervisors ordered No. 100's driver to go around the Federal Center and resume the regular route on the other side.

But Davis wasn't ready to give up.

"We'll get off on the other side and just ride back the other way," she said.

She began counting quarters, saying she would try all day, or all week, to ride RTD buses into the Federal Center without showing her ID.

"They're going to run out of spare buses," she said.

But a huddle with her lawyers in a parking lot on the other side of the Federal Center changed her mind.

But she said she'll be back on the bus Monday morning.

What the law says

The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations requires:

• That federal agencies must ensure, when property or a portion thereof is closed to the public, that admission to the property, or the affected portion, is restricted to authorized persons who must register upon entry to the property and must, when requested, display government or other identifying credentials to federal police officers or other authorized individuals when entering, leaving or while on the property.

• That persons in and on property must at all times comply with official signs of a prohibitory, regulatory or directory nature and with the lawful direction of federal police officers and other authorized individuals.

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires:

• The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

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