By J. D. Obenberger, Attorney at Law

YNOT – The performer is standing in front of you for all the niceties to be conducted before his or her best and most enthusiastic services are to be rendered. The ID is tendered to you. How should you check it for validity?

(In other articles, I’ve covered the forms of identification required by federal law, and elsewhere, I’ve covered the methodology you should employ to control a shoot with greatest protection for you and your legal interests. The requirements of legibility and recent and recognizable images in the picture identification document are covered in the Regulations at Section 75.2 (a) (1).)

Tools

First, your tools. You will need a 45x illuminated eye loupe that includes ultraviolet LEDs. You can obtain one for $6.50 or thereabouts from American Science and Surplus in Chicago. They call it a “microscopic microscope,” and the catalog description underemphasizes its UV capabilities. You will use it to verify the UV luminance of special seals, lines and other security devices unique to each state.

Holograms are visible in white light to the naked eye when the card is rotated on its horizontal axis near a light source. In contrast, UV markings, present in the identification cards of most states, are visible to the naked eye only with a UV light source. Some picture identification cards (and currency) use micro-printing for another level of establishing authenticity; roughly 16 states do so on driver’s licenses and state identification cards.

What I’m reading online suggests that both holograms and UV have been successfully accomplished by the makers of good fake IDs, but none of them have been able to match the micro-printing of authentic documents. Ergo, a 45-power magnifier will do a good job. (American Science has another model with a heavy metal casing, but with a UV light not as powerful, at about the same price, though not listed in its catalog. Give them a call if you are interested.)

In order to use your loupe effectively, you will need to know what you are looking for. That information will come from two sources. A handy reference for you will be the I.D. Checking Guide. It comes in two editions, the US and Canada Edition and the International Edition, published annually during the first week in February each year by the Driver’s License Guide Company of Redwood City, Calif. The books are copiously illustrated with facsimilies of driver’s licenses; state, provincial, territorial, consular and federal IDs and U.S. passport visas, with abundant notes about security features pertaining to each. They take special care in dealing with documents for minors and probationary drivers. Updates are available to registered purchasers through the company’s website. The U.S. edition’s list price is $23.95 plus $5 for shipping.

You may be required to establish a basis for acquiring one of these manuals. The company will tell you outright that the books are “available to appropriate businesses, government agencies and sworn law enforcement personnel.” Tell them the truth: You’re a producer of adult entertainment, and by law you must verify the validity of identification documents presented to you. DLG sells the manuals to adult entertainment companies regularly now, and I believe I can take some credit for talking them into that.

The 96-page pamphlet is a very high-quality work, but it is not all-inclusive. In order to learn the special soundex codes by which some states encode identity into driver’s licenses and state ID documents, older and sometimes alternative forms of ID, and other sometimes-critical details, one needs to examine the U.S. Identification Manual, a 700-page, three-ring binder acquired from the same company. It costs $210 and is updated quarterly as IDs change. This manual probably is prohibitively expensive for small and medium-sized companies. We maintain a copy in our offices, and sometimes our regular clients call for help with troublesome forms of U.S. ID. The service is one we typically provide without cost to annual-retainer clients.

Recent editions of the I.D. Checking Guide have a special section illustrating or describing the UV features on cards issued by states which use them. Such cards also sometimes have machine-readable magnetic strips and/or barcodes or QR codes. Magnetic readers that connect via USB to a computer are priced in the $100 to $200 range on eBay; a free app for your iPhone or Android-powered device can scan the others, but don’t expect more than verification of the ID number without an ability to decrypt whatever else may be stored in the QR code.

Verifying with the issuing authority

Most states’ motor vehicle departments will assist callers in verifying the authenticity of a suspicious identity document. The hard part is getting a phone number and then steering through the voice menus to get to the right person. You may be asked to provide information from the purported identity document.

Backup ID

One and only one unexpired picture identification card of the character described in the Regulations must be inspected and copied, and from it, the identity information in your compliance scheme must be extracted and entered. No other documents but those mandated by law may be filed in your records. Though I doubt anyone is likely to be indicted for including more than one identity document, to be technical, anything that is not of the character required by the regulations should be stored outside your records system, perhaps in an “administrative file” about the performer along with cash receipts and the like. The additional, unauthorized IDs, stored inside your record keeping system, are a violation of Section 2257.

It makes abundant sense to require a second backup form of identification, because underage persons carrying fake ID seldom carry more than one ID card substantiating the fake identity. School IDs, sheriff’s cards issued to strippers, and many others may have a photograph, but even a debit card or credit card with a matching name and signature are better than relying on only one form of ID. Here, even an expired driving learner’s permit, issued when the performer was a minor, may be of good use.

One major adult production studio has been noted, in news articles, to have accepted a Social Security account printout as a backup form of ID. The performer turned out to be 15 years old, though the ID she possessed was authentic. She had obtained it through the use of an adult’s birth certificate, and no ID checking will ever protect you from that.

Thorough inspection and record-keeping will be of immeasurable help should you ever be investigated concerning an alleged underage performer — at least for federal issues involving Section 2257 and in the majority of states which require guilty knowledge to make the case for a sexual offense involving a minor. Not every state allows an affirmative defense of a reasonable, but mistaken, belief that the performer was an adult. Florida and Utah are among those that disallow such a defense. I suspect, however, that abundant and zealous Section 2257 compliance executed with a sincere desire to exclude minors will be of some help to the photographer in the way the investigation is disposed of in every jurisdiction.

A violation of Section 2257 carries with it the potential of prison time. Far worse is the penalty for creating child pornography or transporting and trafficking minors at the federal and state levels. The penalties for violating state laws concerning sex with minors and sexual exploitation are worse, too.

How to check an ID for alteration or counterfeiting

Basic stuff: Check that the picture identification card is current. If it has expired, send the performer packing. Make sure the picture actually depicts the person standing in front of you. Compare height and weight given on the document with that person. Ask the performer to recite the name, date of birth and address on the card. Ask for a backup form of ID.

Check photo IDs for frayed or uneven corners and margins and for signs of cutting. Examine the geometry of the card and feel the surface to check for irregular lamination. Check for glue, especially around the photograph. In some states, the date of birth, sex and name are coded into the driver’s license and state ID number. Make sure the printing of those values show no inconsistencies or irregularities. Check embossing and raised data to ensure they are consistent with the textual data. Compare the holograms and UV markings to one of the manuals mentioned above, checking to see whether any parts or wholes are missing. A light source behind the card may highlight signs of cutting.

Again, using your manual, verify that the form of the card matches the lawful and authentic format used by the issuing authority. Look at the quality of printing and manufacture. Some state documents — and federal documents — show a “rainbow” effect that causes the printing to change color gradually. This is one of the more difficult things to counterfeit. Examine the fineness of lines with your loupe, ensuring they don’t get wider or narrow where they shouldn’t. Inspect the ID’s reverse side! Look for bad printing, smudges, etc. that reflect amateurish counterfeiting or alteration attempts. (You should make a copy of the reverse and retain it with the copy of the document’s front.)

With a loupe, a magnifying glass of 10x or higher (the higher, the better, up to about 50x if the glass is illuminated) or a microscope, check for the micro-printing indicated in your manual, usually contained in borders or lines and sometimes in the design in the background of the card. With your UV light source, look for UV-printed symbols, shapes and lines as set out in your manual. In some states, UV-repeated name, date of birth, and other personally-identifying information also appear. Illuminate the reverse of the card to check for the presence of opacity marks.

It may be advantageous to use a form in order to ensure you consistently perform all these steps for each performer. By checking off items on a checklist that details the examination you conducted — verifying the micro-printing and what it said, the UV features, the holograms, the magnetic and/or barcode or QR information, the authenticity of the form in which the card appears, and the results of attempts to verify its legitimacy — you will establish your serious intent to prevent the predation of minors. Verification of serious intent never, ever hurts, and it may protect you immeasurably. By the same token, though, establishing a regular pattern of behavior and then skipping a step or two in a case that falls under investigation will suggest to an investigator there was criminal intent from the outset. Omission of steps, even accidentally, also could suggest an attempt to obstruct justice by destroying evidence. Neither is a something you want an investigator to suspect. Better not to employ forms at all unless you use them every time without exception.

Did I forget to mention that, while you have your UV light in hand, you can check for the presence of semen?

This article is written to generally inform the public and does not provide legal advice, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship. If you have a legal issue or question, contact a lawyer. If you are arrested, make no statement and contact a lawyer immediately.

Joe Obenberger is a Chicago Loop lawyer concentrating in the law of free expression and liberty under the U.S. Constitution. His firm has represented many owners, employees and customers of adult-oriented businesses, both online and in the real world. He can be reached at his office number, 312-558-6420, or by email.