Papers Please!
Updated: Apr 25, 2020
UPDATE: Thankfully this ill advised bill has been withdrawn by the sponsor.
Senator Stephen Meredith (R) has introduced SB 89 which would give law enforcement the authority to stop, request your identification, and interrogate you for 2 hours based on his reasonable suspicion you need to be stopped, questioned, and detained. This is the most blatant police state bill we have seen in quite some time. Senator Meredith must not want to get re-elected as this legislation is antithetical to everything that America is. This is not Soviet Russia, we don't do this in America, this is the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave. We do not, and cannot cede that kind of authority to the Government. This kind of action presumes you may be guilty of something without even a crime being committed. Note the bill says peace officer that doesn't just mean your local law enforcement or even the KSP but some Federal Agents as well if they have peace officer power in Kentucky.
The bill is short so we will post the entirety of the bill language at the bottom.
Call the legislative hotline at 502-564-8100 or 1-800-372-7181 and tell your Senator, All Senate Leadership and All Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that you are opposed to SB89, this is America not Russia.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 431 IS CREATED TO
READ AS FOLLOWS:
(1) Any peace officer may stop any person in a public place whom the officer
encounters under circumstances which reasonably indicate that the person has
committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime, and the officer may
demand:
(a) 1. The person's name, address, and date of birth; or
2. The person's government-issued identification, if in the person's
possession; and
(b) An explanation for the person's actions.
(2) Any person stopped under subsection (1) of this section who fails to identify
himself or herself or explain the person's actions to the satisfaction of the officer
may be detained and further questioned and investigated by the peace officer for
a period not to exceed two (2) hours.
(3) Detention under this section is not an arrest and shall not be recorded as an
arrest in any official record. At the end of the detention period, the detained
person shall be released or arrested and charged with a crime outside of this
section.
