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Court Rules on Privacy of Personal Identity

The Supreme Court rules that people do not have a constitutional right to refuse to tell police their names. The justices rejected, by a 5-4 vote, the argument that forcing people to give their names violates protections against unreasonable searches and self-incrimination. In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy said giving one's name is "insignificant in the scheme of things." NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

Copyright 2004 NPR

Nina Totenberg is NPR's award-winning legal affairs correspondent. Her reports air regularly on NPR's critically acclaimed newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.
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