Deborah Davis and the Denver "Public" Transit System
On the 9th of December 2005, a Denver woman is scheduled to be arraigned in
U.S. District Court. Her crime: refusing to show ID on a public bus. At
stake is nothing less than the right of Americans to travel freely in their
own country.
The woman who is fighting the good fight is named Deborah Davis. She’s a 50
year-old mother of four who lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Her kids
are all grown-up: her middle son is a soldier fighting in Iraq.
One morning in late September 2005, Deb was riding the public bus to work.
She was minding her own business, reading a book and planning for work, when
a security guard got on this public bus and demanded that every passenger
show their ID. Deb, having done nothing wrong, declined. The guard called
in federal cops, and she was arrested and charged with federal criminal
misdemeanors after refusing to show ID on demand.
She hasn’t commuted by public bus since that day.
More information at Papers Please.