Watchdog – by Jon CassidyHOUSTON – The Texas Department of Public Safety has quietly embarked on a project totake the fingerprints of every Texan old enough to drive over the next 12 years, and add them to a statewide criminal history database.
Not only has the department made that momentous decision on its own, it doesn’t even have clear legal authority to do so.
The credit for breaking the news on those two items goes to consumer affairs columnist Dave Lieber of the Dallas Morning News, whose long-running “Watchdog” column often shows up in my Google Alerts, for obvious reasons.
As an old-school columnist, Lieber tends to keep his opinions subdued, and he doesn’t generally call people dishonest. But I have no problem with doing that, so I’d like to point out that the DPS spokesman he quotes at length is less than straightforward about his department’s legal authority.
Last month, Lieber broke the news that DPS had started collecting full sets of fingerprints on everyone who went in to renew their license.
Friday, he followed up with a story on DPS’ dubious legal authority to do so, and then posted lengthy quotations on the issue to his blog.
Lieber quotes an entire email from DPS spokesman Tom Vinger, who quotes Transportation Code Sec. 521.059 at length, including the key phrase, “The department shall establish an image verification system based on the following identifiers collected by the department: ….an applicant’s thumbprints or fingerprints.”
So clearly, the law contemplates the collection of fingerprints under some circumstance, but the passage quoted by Vinger doesn’t mention anything else about it.
You could look up that section of law online, but the sections immediately surrounding it in the Texas Transportation Code don’t clarify the matter.
To get the full context, you’d have to go back to the original bill that was signed intolaw, and then look up the relevant section of law, which states that an application for a drivers’ license “must include: 1) the thumbprints of the applicant or, if thumbprints cannot be taken, the index fingerprints of the applicant.”
So that’s why the law mentions fingerprints – it’s index fingerprints, not a full set of 10 fingerprints. While the law mentions that those records can be used by law enforcement agencies investigating a crime, it doesn’t say anything about making them generally available in a criminal database.
According to Lieber, a political science professor at Texas Christian University named Donald W. Jackson, who has a new organization called the North Texas Civil Rights Project, is offering legal support if anybody wants to challenge this new policy in court.
Lieber says the solution is for the Legislature to pass a clear law on the matter. I’d add that it throws into question the wisdom of having a law enforcement agency oversee licensing at all. The investigative function will always trump privacy rights.
Contact Jon Cassidy at jon@watchdog.org or @jpcassidy000.
http://watchdog.org/159443/state-police-now-fingerprinting-every-texan/
WTF!?!
“So clearly, the law contemplates the collection of fingerprints under some circumstance, but the passage quoted by Vinger doesn’t mention anything else about it.”
Give ’em an inch…
They ain’t gettin’ my fingerprint! F**K ‘eM! This is BULLSHIT! 😡 And the sheeple in Dallas will go along with it just like they are going along with this illegal immigrant invasion.
“Lieber quotes an entire email from DPS spokesman Tom Vinger, who quotes Transportation Code Sec. 521.059 at length, including the key phrase, “The department shall establish an image verification system based on the following identifiers collected by the department: ….an applicant’s thumbprints or fingerprints.””
I’m sorry but who the hell authorized this PENIS code and how come I got no say or vote on it nor have I heard anything on it?
Lucky for me, my renewal date ain’t till 2018. Hopefully by then, something will happen in this country enough to start a restoration. Wishful thinking at the way we’re going.
1. I don’t need a license to drive a car.
2. If I don’t need a license to drive a car, then I sure as hell don’t need to give them my fingerprints.
“To get the full context, you’d have to go back to the original bill that was signed intolaw, and then look up the relevant section of law, which states that an application for a drivers’ license “must include: 1) the thumbprints of the applicant or, if thumbprints cannot be taken, the index fingerprints of the applicant.”
My thumb and my forefinger are in bad shape. How about my middle finger?
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Correct, NC, you do not need a license to drive…but until common law courts are re-established (right to travel) and de facto UCC courts (and admiralty courts of course) are abolished, be prepared to face the same consequences for driving without a license that I did: jail. At least you won’t be breastfeeding your daughter when that happens!
Sorry to hear that DL. These bastards will get theirs soon enough.
I would expect this kinda thing to happen in NY or California or even in Ilinois, but Texas? Why do they always slap themselves in the face? This must be Perry’s doing. It’s got his dumbass fingerprints written all over it.
I can’t tell you how Shocked I was when I read this piece. I STILL don’t have words. 🙁
NC and Angel–see my post below about why Texas can be more draconian than most states in some cases…
Several years ago, the 90s probably, I learned why Texas, which seemingly has such a liberty spirit in some cases but also a draconian almost totalitarian spirit in others, would almost certainly do this fascist crapola: according to ICE, Texas is a “primary law enforcement” state due to its proximity to the border with Mexico. I know it’s a BS pretext, but it seems you all posting above wanted to know–that IS the reason and do not expect the traitor Perry to change it!
It is up to us to do that, and re-establish the common law “right to travel” to replace the de facto UCC “privilege to drive” (hence drivers licenses).
“according to ICE, Texas is a “primary law enforcement” state due to its proximity to the border with Mexico.”
No offense, but do you got proof of that?
And if that’s the case, then what’s New Mexico, Arizona and California’s excuse? They border Mexico, too.
Big Brother is collecting our baby pictures, medical records, resumes and our children’s DNA:
http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2014/07/big-brother-is-collecting-our-baby.html
Police/DHS Are Entering Kid’s Irises Into A NATIONAL DATABASE:
http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2014/06/policedhs-are-entering-kids-irirss-into.html
DHS & airports use your fingerprints, iris & facial biometrics to spy on you:
http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2014/06/airports-dhs-and-private-companies-want.html