(fingerprinting, facial recognition, iris scan, DNA, etc.)
If you value liberty and understand how dangerous government mandated biometric ID is to our freedom, you need to read and understand every word of what I am writing about today. Something very important is happening so stay with me.
Over the years, the Constitutional Alliance has consistently fought against mandatory biometric ID and for the right of all citizens to be free of it. Government mandated biometric ID is the lynchpin of the modern surveillance society. The amount of control this system gives government over individuals is an anathema to a free society and we oppose it being imposed on anyone – period. You cannot reconcile a free society with a surveillance society.
The founders of this country called religious freedom “the first freedom” because it is a precondition for other important rights. Try to imagine the value of freedom of speech, or freedom of association without religious freedom and you will quickly see why religious freedom, also referred to as ‘freedom of conscience’ is so important.
Here is the Big News
This past week, 19 June 2013, a Motion for Summary Judgment was filed in Kaye Beach’s lawsuit in the state of Oklahoma (You can read it here). This is a pre-trial motion that presents the undisputed facts of her case and makes the strongest assertion based on those facts, that her rights are being violated. The Motion for Summary Judgment asks the Judge, based on these undisputed facts, to rule in her favor. Kaye fully expects a favorable ruling on this Motion but in the event that this doesn't happen, her lawsuit will continue on. You need only to read the first 30 pages of the Motion to understand the arguments Kaye and her attorneys have made. If you choose to read further you can read about the answers the Department of Public Safety (the department that oversees the issuance of driver’s licenses) gave to Kaye’s “Discovery Motion”.
Kaye Beach’s lawsuit, is the only substantial challenge to government mandated biometric ID, to my knowledge, that exists anywhere in our country.
Here is a brief recap of the issue and basis for Kaye’s legal challenge;
Kaye is opposed to mandatory biometric identification which is required of her if she wishes to have a state issued driver’s license or ID card. As we know, the ability to drive a vehicle and also banking, many financial transactions, as well as a host of other necessary daily activities are dependent upon having a government issued photo ID most commonly presented in the form of state driver’s license or ID card. Try to go without one and you will soon find (like Kaye has!) that not having a valid ID is no small matter.
In September, 2011 Kaye filed a lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma for the unwarranted collection of her biometrics and for violating her religious freedom, both of which are protected under Oklahoma law. Kaye is a born again Christian.
Here is why this case is important for everyone
Looking at this issue from a strictly legal perspective, the religious freedom argument is by far the strongest argument. You may have noticed that there have been very few civil liberties legal challenges raised to biometric ID and all of them have failed.
Mandated biometric identification harms many of our fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, assembly and our right to be free from unwarranted searches and seizures. However, generally the courts require evidence that these rights have been infringed upon which means it is only after the violation has occurred and caused measurable harm to one of these rights that a person would have legal standing in the eyes of the law. By contrast, Kaye’s right to abide her conscious and practice her religion freely is demonstrably and irrefutably being impacted right now.
This is why I stress the importance of this case for anyone who opposes mandatory biometric ID. The benefits of a favorable ruling for Kaye’s religious freedom will have a downstream impact on protecting the rights of all from the dangerous implications of such a system.
The Plain Truth
For years we have been repeatedly warning that; “All people are being enrolled into a single global system of identification that directly links our body, using biometrics, to our ability to buy, sell, travel” (And if Congress has their way (Comprehensive Immigration Reform) , to work as well!).
While others were telling you than Real ID is “DEAD” and taking your money, the Constitutional Alliance was walking the walk and not just talking the talk. Going state to state working with state lawmakers and groups, so that as many states as possible would prohibit participation in the Real ID Act 2005. Nobody else was telling you and showing you how you were and are being enrolled into a global system of identification and financial control.
Last April I wrote the immigration reform would be one of the first issues addressed by Congress in 2013. Today we see the “Real ID” “fingerprint” all over Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
If you need a refresher on how you are being enrolled into a global system, please read our short overview ‘Your Body Is Your ID’ A must read for all people!!!
IRREFUTABLE FACTS
Three quarters of the world’s population is already well on the way to being enrolled into this global system of identification control. The remaining world’s population is being manipulated into this system. We can thank the world’s largest biometric and document production company, Safran, and the World Bank for ensuring there is total global enrollment. The standards for biometric collection and sharing are international standards and every state Department of Motor Vehicles is using these international standards. Both the FBI and DHS have openly acknowledged their intention to collect biometric information and share that information globally with other governments and corporations. Telecommunication networks are already in place and being used for the global sharing of biometric data.
THINK, THINK, THINK!
We must be willing to assume some risk to protect our freedom. There is little crime or acts of terrorism in N. Korea and other authoritarian countries. One could argue the people are “safer” but at what cost? The truth is that they are relatively safe from everyone but their government. Their freedom is the cost they have paid for this illusion of safety and it is the same price we will pay if we continue to believe that spying on us and collecting all of our personal information is being done for our own good.
A few years ago, we had the biometrics of eleven Russian spies, yet they had no problem entering our country. Terrorist organizations and drug cartels have infiltrated governments all across the world. The Real ID Act and Comprehensive Immigration Reform will not protect us from this reality. For years people from the Middle East went to Venezuela and Mexico and changed their names legally from Arabic names to Hispanic names. Our border patrol people believed these people were Hispanic when they entered our country. We had the biometrics of these people, yet the biometrics did not tell us who these people really are.
Feeling secure is not the same as being secure!
We would be wrong to give an alcoholic a drink by the same token, we should not continue to feed government’s addiction to hoarding our most personal and sensitive information including our biometrics.
This fight matters!
We ask that you give as generously as you can to the Constitutional Alliance, a not for profit, 501(c)(3); so that we may continue to go state to state if necessary to educate people and protect the freedom of all citizens. Give $5, $10, $100, $1,000 or whatever you are able to do to protect our freedom. Go right now to the Constitutional Alliance web-site www.constitutionalalliance.org and give today. Please do not rely on others; because we are counting on you.
Share this communication with everyone you know and ask them to do the same!
Supporting the Constitutional Alliance (check with you tax advisor - $20 or more, should be tax deductible), is an action every person can take to preserve our freedom for our children and grandchildren. That is our responsibility as citizens. Brave men and women have died and are dying every day to protect our freedom; they must not be allowed to have died in vain.
Mark Lerner: Co-Founder Constitutional Alliance
God Bless these United States of America
