Legal Evaluation

[stickmaker]

I have a very complex and complicated question for folks who know more about the law in the US than I do.

In my Masks series of online stories ( http://www.dcr.net/~stickmak/Transformation/ links about halfway down the page) I have established that costumed heroes or adventurers have certain legal protections. In these stories the Masks are not (with rare exceptions) law enforcement; they are more like volunteer emergency workers. Their self-appointed task is not to bring criminals to justice, but to stop crimes and help with other emergencies. There is a long history of such activities (one character is descended from Le Rapier Rouge, inspired by the Scarlet Pimpernel) long enough that the legal system has taken at least some official notice.

In general, the costumed identity is like a writer's or actor's nom de plume (or an online nickname) only moreso. Most who have them are more interested in having some privacy from the press or fans than in protecting their loved ones or hiding from the government. There are some showboaters, but most actual heroes (as opposed to superhuman celebrities) are primarily people who feel a civic duty and have the ability to fulfill it.

I made the assumption that in the US the right of privacy means that disguised adventurers may not be legally asked to identify themselves except by a law enforcement officer who has witnessed them committing what appears to be an illegal act, or by an officer of a court on official business. What happens if they decline varies by jurisdiction, but usually results in arrest in the costumed ID. Some states allow known costumed heroes to have a legal means of identification - such as a driver's license or weapon permit - in their public ID, in part to help avoid such confrontations.

There is a federal law (and some state and local laws) prohibiting the involuntary public revelation of a known costumed hero's private ID until after they have been convicted of a felony. (How many times have superheroes been framed?) If a costumed hero is arrested, they may not be unmasked or forced to have their fingerprints taken until after the conviction. (There are exceptions for such circumstances as strong evidence that the arrested person is not actually the public figure.)

I'd like opinions of folks versed in US law on this setup. Yes, costumed heroes have been around long enough that the background is somewhat different, but I'd like to keep as close to existing law as I can.

Comments

[kengr]

IANAL but as I understand it, you can't be forced to identify yourself even to law enforcement *now*. Seriously.

There are places they won't let you enter without "valid ID", and if you are driving a car or flying a plane or the like, they can demand to see your operating license.

But if you are just on the street, there's no requirement whatsoever to even *carry* ID. As cops get reminded of the hard way every few years.

Refusing to ID yourself carries with it some penalties, as annoying cops is never a good idea.

Fingerprints (and DNA and other things) are going to be a real problem though. If things get to the point where you are arrested, they *need* a way to unambiguously ID you if you get away or the like.

So they have to do *something*. And it cuts both ways. It may be the only way to prove that the guy they captured *isn't* [well known super].

Only things I can think of are either maintaining seperate supper and "civilian" fingerprint databases (and we all know how well *that* would work) or doing something like using foot prints for supers and fingerprints for norms.

As a *practical* matter, it's likely not that workable.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

I wonder if this could be expanded into a more general discussion of the effects of powers on the legal system, as they do at:

http://lawandthemultiverse.com/

Such problems were also dealt with in the Wildcards series.

Several of my Masks stories mention legal ramifications. The first school for supers actually has classes on how powers interact with laws. Using certain powers is illegal in some nations. Simply being a super is illegal in a few. (Yeah, yeah; mutants are gays. It's become a bit of a cliche, but it's still a valid way to examine the situation without overtly pressing some folks' hot buttons.)

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[(Anonymous)]

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