The Monroe Doctrine

Whatever New Yorkers might think of Governor Spitzer's plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, here's one thing that rings wrong to us — county clerks disobeying policies established by the governor of New York. We've been reserved on the matter of driver's licenses because we don't think undocumented immigrants ought to be required to have a New York license to drive in the state. It's bad enough New Yorkers have to have such a license. Yet what is starting to emerge is an attack on the rule of law, a threat to governance that has strangely received the endorsement of our state lawmakers

One could call it the Monroe Doctrine, because it started with the Legislature in that county, which, in a vote of 20 to 9 on October 11, moved to defy Mr. Spitzer by ordering its clerk to require anyone seeking a driver's license to provide a valid Social Security number or submit immigration documents proving they are not eligible for a Social Security card. Around the state, about a dozen county clerks now say they won't carry out the governor's policy. They are getting back up from Republican state lawmakers, who are drafting legislation that would indemnify rebellious clerks against legal expenses, while also seeking to overturn Mr. Spitzer's directive.

The county clerks have their reasons for their revolt. Part of the problem is that the governor gave them little notice before handing down the order to Commissioner David Swarts at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Had Mr. Spitzer reached out to more clerks before dropping the new license rules at their feet, they might have responded more agreeably. Mainly, however, the clerks are disobeying the governor because they say he's forcing them to enforce public policy they don't like. That starts to affront the rule of law.

The clerks say they fear the policy will encourage illegal immigrants to flock to New York to get licenses. They also say allowing them to drive poses a security threat, enabling foreign drivers to use their new identification cards as a breeder document to garner other privileges and documents. Above all, they say they are uncomfortable with giving official state IDs to residents who crossed our borders illegally. As one of their supporters, the Conservative Party chairman, Michael Long, said: "Really, governor, what part of 'illegal' don't you understand?"

The same question could be put to the clerks. If the Spitzer administration were violating federal law, one would assume the Department of Homeland Security would be the first to chime in. Secretary Chertoff, however, has taken no such position. The fact is New York could still comply with the federal REAL ID act even if it chooses to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Those undocumented drivers would be ineligible for a standardized federal ID and all of the privileges associated with it, but they would still be able to drive here on a New York license. We could end up with a situation where the courts declare the clerks on the wrong side of the law.

Imagine if the issue were something else — gun licenses, say, or marriage licenses — and a renegade county clerk were running against state law. Republican lawmakers would hardly come to the defense of a municipal clerk who began protesting the failure of the legislature to approve same gender marriages by issuing marriage licenses to same-gender couples. The issue isn't whether Mr. Spitzer's policy makes sense for New York. County clerks, in their capacity as operators of local motor vehicle offices, are agents of the DMV. It is not their responsibility to judge the license policy.

Such contempt of legally constituted authority may serve the interests of Mr. Spitzer's opponents in the short run but will have a destabilizing long-term influence in state government, hampering the governor and his successors from implementing other controversial policies. This sort of chaos may be exactly what Republicans in Albany are trying to encourage. Their support of the county clerks reflects an intention to further weaken a governor and force him to deal with the Legislature instead of going around it by executive fiat. By attacking Mr. Spitzer and endorsing the county-level revolt, they are in danger of losing the high ground.