[Kevin]

FWIW, I've consulted with people charged with disorderly conduct. I can appreciate the city's point of view. My advice to the client in every case was that my legal fee would be higher than their ticket and that they could either represent themselves and probably get convicted by the municipal judge or they could go down to the city and write a check filling out a nolo contendre plea.

At any rate, DeepImpact, no, you don't have a right to privacy in your identity, especially when an officer has probably cause to think you're committing a burglary. In this case, there was P.C. because a neighbor said that there were two black men with backpacks forcing their way into a house. Fixate all you want on the racial aspect, but that's P.C. regardless of race.

Like KSig said, unless there's some special rule in that jurisdiction which I'm aware of, what are you basing Gates' right to the badge number of the officer he was dealing with?

Based on the facts presented, the officer's report indicates that a prima facie case for disorderly conduct existed.

As to why that comment about the officer's mama would be so hard to invent, put yourself in that situation... now, imagine yourself trying to put words into the mouth of a suspect you're arresting. A 58-year-old prof at Harvard and you invent a "Yo mama" phrase? Either the officer is incredibly racist or he's telling the truth. Judging from his history in the department, he's probably telling the truth.