Via Radley at Hit & Run, it’s a clear outrage that Larry Moore — homeless, but working his way back up — should be kicked back down by a costly and unhelpful city bureaucracy.


But don’t overlook how identification requirements act as a “barrier to re‐​entry”:

The only one who isn’t furious about this is Moore. He insists that city functionaries are giving him a break because they are letting him continue to shine shoes while he waits for a copy of his birth certificate to be sent from Kansas. Once it arrives they will allow him to get an ID card and then hand over almost every cent he has.

It’s already a burden for people overcoming alcohol or drug problems — and disasters like flood or fire — to produce satisfactory identification. For every Larry Moore who gets a break and gets in the paper, there are probably hundreds who never break back into legitimate employment. Imagine what it will be like when we have the more “secure” licenses envisioned under the REAL ID Act or the proposed REAL ID revival bill.