License requirements ease

INDIANAPOLIS -- State officials announced Monday that they will relax identification requirements for new driver's licenses that triggered a civil-rights lawsuit.\nThe policy, which went into effect in July, required people getting a new Indiana driver's license to show proof of a Social Security number and five other documents to prove their identities.\nAn adjusted policy, scheduled to take effect Sept. 30, requires applicants for a driver's license to present four documents. Those include proof of a Social Security number, primary identification, one piece of secondary identification and one residency document.\nAnother revision involves motorists renewing their driver's licenses. They will not have to show proof of residency, providing their addresses have not changed.\nThe BMV decided to make the changes in response to public concerns about the overhauled policy, spokeswoman Media Trent said.\n"We had some issues with specific cases making it very hard for people who should have been eligible for licenses to get one," she said.\nThe Indiana Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the BMV earlier this month.\nThe lawsuit alleges that the new policy violated the state and U.S. constitutions by determining who is and who is not a legal Indiana resident, which is a federal responsibility.