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ACLU advocates back bills to require law‑enforcement ID, urge clarifying amendments
Summary
Warren Sowder of the ACLU told the Senate Judiciary Committee he supports S.208 and S.209—bills to require law‑enforcement identification and to limit arrests at sensitive locations—but recommended adding the agency name to IDs, clarifying whether penalties are civil or criminal, and including a severability clause and a judicial‑warrant exception.
Warren Sowder, a policy advocate for the ACLU, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 14 that the ACLU supports S.208 and S.209 and urged specific changes to strengthen the bills’ legal defensibility and public‑safety effects.
Sowder said S.208’s requirement that officers identify themselves is aimed at preventing encounters with masked or plainly clothed agents in unmarked vehicles, which he said “undermine[] public trust in law enforcement” and can leave residents unable to verify whether an officer is an actual government official. He told senators the ACLU would like the identification requirement to include the…
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