People are allowed to change their names to all kinds of ridiculous things

[rebeccafrog]

So there's this guy who has been calling himself Jesus Christ for the past fifteen years -- made the change on the driver's license, Social Security card, passport, etc., but can't get the change made official, because "use of this name is blasphemy and will cause a violent reaction." This is quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard. First, the District of Columbia Superior Court has no business caring whether something is "blasphemous," so I will charitably assume (for the purposes of this comment -- I don't believe it for a second) that the comment about it being blasphemous was merely an explanation of why the court thinks the name will evoke a violent reaction, and is not part of the court's reasoning, except insofar as it believes the blasphemy will enhance potential violent reaction. Thus, the entirety of the grounds for refusal is that someone might beat him up. Well, he's been using the name on all official documents (an dpresumably introducing himself as such) for the past fifteen years. Either it hasn't sparked violence, or Jesus Christ, né Peter Robert Phillips, Jr., has decided that occasionally getting beaten up and having his lunch money stolen is a reasonable price to pay.

Making the name change legal will not affect how people react to it.

Besides, what does the court care if this guy gets beaten up on occasion? Unless it is also going to order that he stop using the name in other capacities, both official and unofficial, it clearly doesn't.

The DC Court of Appeals reversed and remanded on procedural grounds.

Thanks to Religion Clause for the pointer.