Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore has made it harder for citizens to do business at City Hall.

You now have to present a photo ID to visit City Hall, the Democrat-Gazette reported this morning. That means it is harder to drop off a petition to run for city office than it is to vote for that office. (You may not be required to display a photo ID to vote.) And if you do choose to display an ID to vote, it isn’t scanned for unspecified record retention as the new City Hall system requires.

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If you don’t have a photo ID, the city manager will send an employee down to vet you. (If they’re on lunch break at the time, well just cool your heels, Ajax.) If you’re not Luke Skrable, perhaps you’ll not only be allowed to enter but also speak at board meetings. We do wonder what entrance test will be required for those without photos. Better behave. The Skrable case indicates Moore gets a little sensitive about those who demand their constitutional rights too vigorously.

They use machines to screen for guns at the Capitol and Courthouse, but no photo ID is required. Yet.

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Editorial: This is pathetic.

UPDATE: City Manager Moore objects that such an ID system is also used in the Pulaski County administration building. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

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ON A RELATED SECURITY NOTE: The Little Rock police proudly announced on Twitter the arrest over the weekend of 44 people related to underage drinking in two days of concentrated enforcement The city’s crime wave has apparently been stopped and an intensive mopup of fringe criminals has begun.

The following was the report Friday. A similar message was posted for 18 more arrests Saturday, apparently related to Riverfest enforcement.

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