“Is it illegal to take a newborn home from the hospital without naming it first?” was the title of a current Cecil repost. In it he mentioned common law and said, “But such statutes, with their talk of “showing a sufficient reason for the proposed change,” don’t sound very voluntary…”
FYI, I changed my name in the General District Court of Viginia and would like to relay the following: Stating a reason for the name change is no longer necessary (at least in Virginia.) A reason for the name change was required under the original law. However that requirement was challenged and won as contrary to the common law you mentioned in the article. These facts can be confirmed by looking up the Virginia statutes and the appendix where the stricken requirement is annonated.
BTW, my I suggest my truism for your statement “that the bureaucrats want people to think the process is compulsory”
-This is no longer a nation of freedoms nor laws but databases.
In light of this truism, I wonder if statutes which require a person to identify himself to a police officer (when the police officer deems it necessary for the public safety), also require by implication that a person must spell his name or otherwise assist the police officer in accessing the police officer’s database
e.g.
Police, "Give me some ID.
Citizen, “Don’t have any.”
Police, “What’s your name?”
Citizen, "[nonromanalphabet]…[/nonromanalphabet]
Police, “How do you spell that?”
Citizen, "[nonromanalphabet] . . . [/nonromanalphabet]
Police, "You’re under arrest for “Invalid database entry.”
AcidKid
nom de plumage
…