SCAN THIS NEWS 1/24/98

The Georgia "Coalition to Repeal the Fingerprint Law" held its 1998 Repeal Rally on Monday, January 12th; the opening day of the Georgia legislative session. The hour long event was held on the main floor of the Georgia State Capitol building in downtown Atlanta. Speakers addressed the crowed from the base of the large staircase which leads up to the legislative chambers. Supporters filled the Capitol's main-floor lobby for the 9:00 A.M. event.

One gentleman attending the rally appropriately dressed in Colonial apparel, complete with a ponytailed wig and "Paul Revere" cap. His "Don't Tread on Me" flag drew some attention but it was the rope looped into a noose which almost caused him to NOT make it through the security screeners located at the Capitol's entrance. After some discussion he successfully convinced the security guards that the noose was all in good humor and they eventually let him proceed ...though cautiously.

Rally speakers included Cyndee Parker (National Spokesperson Coalition to Repeal the Fingerprints Law), State Representative Mitchell Kaye, State Senator Pam Glanton (running for Lt. Governor), and several other legislators; all of which support the repeal effort. Several current candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor also expressed their opposition to the current fingerprint requirement.

Coalition spokesperson Cyndee Parker reminded on-listeners that the Georgia fingerprint requirement was actually part of a bigger plan being promoted throughout the country by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA). She stated that the intense effort being put forth by the AAMVA to standardize all state issued driver's licenses would result in a national identification card and database system.

Alabama Constitutional Attorney Larry Becraft gave a short discourse on the importance of taking a stand in defense of freedom. He declined use of the available loudspeaker and instead exercised his strong vocal cords to send his Patrick Henry type speech reverberating throughout the Capitol.

Rep. Mitch Kaye and Senator Pam Glanton, the two most outspoken legislators currently working aggressively for repeal, encouraged other legislators to join with them in their efforts to stop the intrusive act being engaged in by the State's Department of Public Safety. Kaye and Glanton are each sponsoring bills which are included among the nine repeal bills currently pending (at varying stages) in the Georgia legislature.

Rep. Kaye closed his speech by reading from the AAMVA's official publication "MOVE." In the article, which was published in the fall 1997 edition of "MOVE," Georgia's Public Safety Commissioner Sid Miles was quoted as saying "The driver license is not just a driver license, but an ID." And regarding the AAMVA's fingerprint standardization plan Commissioner Miles said "There's no system out there that's foolproof, but this one's about as good as you can get."

About fifteen to twenty representatives, senators, and candidates for various state offices flanked the speakers podium during the entire rally in an expression of support for the repeal effort. Numerous other legislators and Capitol office workers observed the rally from the upper-level balcony which overlooks the main stairwell.

Atlanta's major television and radio news stations were on hand to cover the event. Even CNN had a camera crew there. And, as has been the case in the past, the local television stations gave excellent reports on the rally during their evening news broadcasts.

The consensus is that in all likelihood a repeal measure could easily pass the legislature as it is currently made up. The roadblock is undisputedly the Governor's Office. Georgia Governor Zell Miller has strongly intimated that he would veto any measure passed by the legislature which stops fingerprinting. And the director of the Georgia's driver's licensing agency, Sid Miles, is determined to keep on fingerprinting citizens, notwithstanding strong public opposition.

Cyndee Parker and Deb Cardon did a fantastic job of putting the Repeal Rally together. They have both devoted a tremendous amount of time and effort towards educating the members of the legislature about the reprehensible nature of the state's fingerprint requirement.

The 1998 Repeal Rally was undeniably a success.

Scott

P.S. Included below is an editorial from an Atlanta area paper which fairly represents the sentiment held by most Georgia residents.

P.P.S. You can read Sid Miles' comments regarding fingerprinting as published in the AAMVA's "MOVE" magazine online at: MOVE ********************************************

Merietta Daily Journal Tuesday, January 20, 1998

Editorials -

REPEAL FINGERPRINT LAW

There are times when government, in an attempt to rectify one problem, winds up creating a bigger problem. And that's what happened with the passage in 1996 by the Georgia Legislature of a law requiring drivers to be fingerprinted n order to obtain a driver's license.

The law was ostensibly aimed at combating license fraud, according to state Public Safety Commissioner Sid Miles. But in the first place, there are only a few hundred such cases per year in Georgia. And in the second, the measure was buried deep in a housekeeping bill for the state Department of Public Safety, and the majority of the Legislature was unaware of the provision when voting on it in the final days of that year's session.

Yes, the legislators should have done a better job of doing their homework that year. But the question now is what can be done to overturn the provision, which has provoked understandable anger on the part of many Georgians.

Why the anger: Some critics see it as a step toward the day when government "will track us like cans of dog food in the grocery store," to quote one of the measure's leading opponents, state Rep. Mitchell Kaye, R-east Cobb.

We don't buy the Big Brotherism argument, but there is no question the law is an uncalled-for intrusion on the privacy of law-abiding citizens. Such citizens should have nothing to fear and shouldn't mind being screened or being fingerprinted. But fingerprinting, in the absence of exacerbating factors, creates the perception that one is guilty until proven innocent rather than the other way around.

Though this year's legislative session is just under way, nine bills that would deal with the situation are already in the hopper, including one introduced by Rep. Kaye. Gov. Zell Miller, however, has threatened to veto such a bill, so as Kaye points out, it likely will be next year before the law is actually repealed.

But there's little doubt that there is bipartisan sentiment in the Legislature for repeal -- and plenty of such desire on the part of rank-and-file Georgians. =======================================================================

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SOVEREIGN CITIZENS AGAINST NUMBERING
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