>>A good example of the media not doing a good job of notifying the public of the law. The law was changed already. Papers or proof of legal residence in the U.S. can only be asked for if the person is involved in a crime or part of a criminal investigation. However, if go to any of the websites for hispanic support, they all declare the law as profiling or discrimmination without any specifics as to why or how or even the law itself. If you or I are stopped for suspicion of a crime or investigated as part of a crime we have to provide identification as well. I do not see anything discrimmatory about it. The only way it could be discrimminatory is if officers choose to disregard the law and stop for no reason at all. That is an issue for an investigation into police procedures and happens now and then due to profiling as well and should be handled as such.
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>My concern is that some officers might choose to use minor offenses (things like loitering) as an opportunity to harass people with the blessing of this law. That's essentially what happened to blacks all over the South for decades.
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>Tamar

You do have a valid point though. It is often the disenfranchised who suffer most from abuse by those who are in a position of authority. From illegal immigrants who are victims of crime and low-income minorities to single mothers who are sexually harassed by their employers and feel they cannot risk a complaint.