# Is the Real ID requirement for travel constitutional? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 11, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-real-id-requirement-for-travel-constitutional/1011495 "2024-12-11T15:12:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-real-id-requirement-for-travel-constitutional/1011495/61 "2024-12-16T23:00:50Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > The thing about air travel is that under pre-1920s laws property rights extended up to the Andromeda Galaxy; this would have made air travel effectively impossible. According to the FAA, all airspace above 60,000 feet is Class E. Which means aliens flying anywhere in the known universe are very likely in violation of federal regulations (unless they visited and took a checkride). As for the travel debate, I’ll throw in that the rules for private air travel are much more relaxed. If you book a charter flight your name is checked against the TSA watch list and your ID will be checked by a crew member, but there’s no reference to Real ID. If you’re lucky enough to have a friend with a privately owned jet, none of that applies at all. Which is to say, all it takes is money. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-real-id-requirement-for-travel-constitutional/1011495/62 "2024-12-16T23:05:15Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > The thing about air travel is that under pre-1920s laws property rights extended up to the Andromeda Galaxy; this would have made air travel effectively impossible. I happened to be reading about this principle, which has a rather fancy Latin name, on Wikipedia just the other day. > **[Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuius_est_solum,_eius_est_usque_ad_coelum_et_ad_inferos)** > > Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos (Latin for "whoever's is the soil, it is theirs all the way to Heaven and all the way to Hell") is a principle of property law, stating that property holders have rights not only to the plot of land itself, but also the air above and (in the broader formulation) the ground below. The principle is often referred to in its abbreviated form as the ad coelum doctrine. > In modern law, this principle is still accepted in limited form; the right... ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-real-id-requirement-for-travel-constitutional/1011495/63 "2024-12-18T13:36:39Z")
Interesting- wouldn’t the cross section of the area you own get smaller as you went down and larger as you went up? Since we’re on a (roughly) spherical planet? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-real-id-requirement-for-travel-constitutional/1011495/64 "2024-12-22T04:54:42Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > So permanent residents of the US and foreign tourists do not have any right to travel? If so it is by statutory law or that no state has made it illegal but either way it can be changed. Only citizens have the right guarantied. > [@DrDeth](#): > > No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States As Dr Deth points out. The right to travel is considered a privileges and immunities dating back to Article IV of the Articles of Confederation. The rest of the quote has nothing to do with right to travel. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-real-id-requirement-for-travel-constitutional/1011495/65 "2024-12-22T05:28:43Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I happened to be reading about this principle, which has a rather fancy Latin name, on Wikipedia just the other day. Heh. In my first-year property law class, the professor threw this one out to the class, and asked “What does this mean?” He didn’t expect to get a correct answer, but out of our section of 60 students, one actually knew enough Latin to answer it correctly. Surprised the professor, certainly. I was glad when that student asked me to join his study group. Our group learned a lot together, and that student remains among my colleagues, and is one of my good friends. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-real-id-requirement-for-travel-constitutional/1011495.md?page=3)