Is it legal to deny ID?

S

Shelby

Guest
Jurisdiction
Washington
I turned 21 today and have been seeing signs around stating they no longer accept vertical ID for alcohol purchases. I went to see if I could get my license renewed and the lady said "not unless it has expired, it is illegal for a company to refuse to give service for a valid vertical government issued drivers license." I was also seeing how I could argue this case if refused. I was told I can carry my birth certificate although I don't want to lose it.
 
Shelby said:
I turned 21 today and have been seeing signs around stating they no longer accept vertical ID for alcohol purchases. I went to see if I could get my license renewed and the lady said "not unless it has expired, it is illegal for a company to refuse to give service for a valid vertical government issued drivers license." I was also seeing how I could argue this case if refused. I was told I can carry my birth certificate although I don't want to lose it.
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It's the weekend, mate. If you want liquor without a long legal battle, carry your birth certificate and your DL. You don't lose your debit card, your DL, your auto insurance cards each time you carry them, do you?
Be careful with your BC, as you are with your DL and you'll be buying your liquor within minutes, boozing within the hour, and buzzed soon after!!!
 
What the heck is a "vertical" ID? One that stands up on it's edge?

Or do you mean "virtual" where you show somebody a picture of your ID on your phone?

If you don't have your original I can't imagine why you couldn't just go to the DMV and tell them you lost it and pay for a duplicate that you can carry with you.

There's nothing illegal about refusing to accept a photo of an ID for the simple reason that the ID can easily be created by photo editing software.

Even carrying your birth certificate around isn't likely to help especially where alcohol is involved at store clerks and bartenders face criminal charges for making mistakes about IDs.
 
You have valid, government issued identification which indicates your date of birth. That's all anyone should care about.
 
If you feel there is an issue you can contact the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. According to their website "Businesses can choose which forms of acceptable IDs they will allow and many businesses develop policies about which kinds of ID can be accepted."

However, under "Types of acceptable ID" are the following:

  1. Driver's License, Instruction Permit, or I.D. Card issued by any U.S. State, U.S. Territory and District of Columbia.
  2. Driver's License, Instruction Permit, or I.D. Card issued by any Canadian Province
  3. Valid Washington State Temporary Driver's License
  4. U.S. Armed Forces I.D. Card (Encrypted signature acceptable)
  5. Merchant Marine I.D. Card issued by the U.S. Coast Guard
  6. Official Passport
  7. Washington State Tribal Enrollment Card (No expiration date required)

According to this list a birth certificate is not an acceptable form of ID. To me, if a license is unacceptable that doesn't leave many options and it's somewhat ambiguous if a business can only accept certain types of licenses.

Best bet is to contact the board to see what they say about the license issue.
 
What happens if you "lose" the current vertical ID? Claim to the DMV you lost it...will they then replace it with a new horizontal version since you're now over 21?

Or claim you've gained or lost a large amount of weight, went bald, or now rocking a blue Mohawk when before you had a blonde comb-over...will that qualify you for a new ID in horizontal fashion ?
 
All good questions but I'm not sure why this is such an issue with the OP (unless he's just a troll).

If he wants to buy booze all he's got to do is go from place to place until somebody reads his date of birth and sells to him.

If he can't get that to happen there is no longer anything illegal about getting a horizonatally licensed adult friend to go in and buy it for him and come out and hand it to him in front of god and everybody.
 

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