Although REAL ID went nowhere, during the 2009 Legislature, this federally mandated and underfunded de facto national identification card was recently revived and enacted by Governor Gibbons through “emergency” regulation. Despite the ACLU of Nevada’s urging against the implementation of REAL ID on privacy and due process grounds, the Nevada DMV began temporarily issuing REAL ID-compliant licenses and identification cards in the beginning of 2010.

Some thoughts today from our very own Rebecca Gasca on lobbying for the ACLU of Nevada:

Call Senator Reid and Senator Ensign today and tell them to oppose PASS ID (S. 1261), Senator Akaka's "Real ID-Lite"!

Real ID has reared its ugly head again, this time in the form of Senator Akaka's PASS ID Act (S. 1261) in the Senate.  While this bill stems from a sincere attempt to fix the unworkable Real ID Act of 2005, PASS ID actually re-institutes many of Real ID’s problems, and in some cases makes them even worse.  Real ID cannot be solved by tinkering around the edges of the act.  Instead, the entire unworkable system must be scrapped and replaced with a system that does not endanger Americans’ privacy and civil liberties, such as the “negotiated rulemaking” process that brings together stakeholders to hash out wise and realistic improvements to driver’s license.