Court Opinion

ID: 9743272
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:29:43.644576+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:40.247229
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE COOK, specially concurring: There is a difference between asking a driver for identification and asking a passenger for identification. A driver is required to have a current license as a condition of operating a vehicle. Asking a driver for his license is reasonably related to the initial justification for the stop. Usually there is no reason to ask a passenger for identification. Asking a passenger for identification suggests the stop is pretextual, and the real purpose is a general inquisition about past, present, and future wrongdoing. The court in Gonzalez and Harris struck a balance. A simple request for identification from a passenger is allowed, but the routine running of warrant checks on passengers is not. I agree with those decisions. If a balance cannot be struck, if a police officer must be allowed to run a warrant check on every piece of identification that comes into his possession, we should straightforwardly recognize that the fourth amendment affords no protection against vehicle stops and searches. See People v. Ortiz, 317 Ill. App. 3d 212, 226, 738 N.E.2d 1011, 1022 (2000) (Cook, P.J., specially concurring).