When assessing the degree and quality of liberty in a country, one of the factors considered in academic political science is the requirement of personal identification by law enforcement. It use to be a trope of Hollywood cinema that takes place in the Eastern Bloc (Warsaw Pact countries) that ordinary citizens and abvious tourists were routinely harassed by law enforcement for their papers, a stark reminder that here in the states you can even cross state lines without identifying yourself.

It’s getting more interesting as law enforcement is pre-emptively collecting biometric data on school kids and other vulnerable demographics.

Currently wending through state courts is the controversy of using biometric data to identify suspects, which may be regarded as an [unreasonable] search from which we (all, citizens or otherwise) are supposed to be protected, according to the fourth amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

In this specific incident, the NYPD is notoriously racist and aggressive, so this may be contempt of cop while black As the adage goes, you can beat the rap but you can’t beat the ride. This assures these young men will have a bad week regardless of their guilt of any wrongdoing.