NCJ Number
92015
Date Published
1982
Length
152 pages
Annotation
Witnesses testified in favor of S. 2043, a bill to bring mail order sales of fraudulent identification to minors under Federal criminal law, and S. 1924, the False Identification Crime Control Act of 1981.
Abstract
The senator sponsoring S. 2043 emphasized the ease with which minors can buy false identification documents by mail, offering as exhibits advertisements from popular magazines and letters from State alcoholic beverage control boards citing their problems with minors' using false identifications to buy liquor. A representative from Michigan who had introduced a similar bill in the House noted that most States have no laws prohibiting the manufacture or sale of identification cards that closely resemble a driver's license. Representatives from the Department of Justice supported both bills, stating that Federal and State laws were inadequate in this area. The director of Colorado United, a trade association of the alcoholic beverage association in Denver, viewed the proposed bill as one step in combating the false identification problem, but felt that ultimately the manufacture of such documents should be prohibited. The U.S. Brewers Association representative also supported the bill, commenting that recent state laws raising the legal age for purchasing alcoholic beverages may increase the demand for false identifications and that this problem contributes to alcohol-related traffic deaths. Finally, an investigator from New Hampshire's Liquor Control Commission described the types of false identifications sold and difficulties in determining whether an out-of-state card is valid. He observed a rise in bogus cards when the State raised the drinking age in 1979. Witnesses' prepared statements and materials supporting the testimony are supplied.