ATLANTA (AP) — A civil rights group sued Georgia over the state’s refusal to allow a couple to officially name its 22-month-old child “Allah.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia filed the lawsuit recently in Fulton County Superior Court on behalf of the couple, Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk.
At issue is the young girl’s proposed last name of Allah.
State law requires a baby’s surname to be either that of the father of the mother for the initial birth record, lawyers for the Georgia Department of Public Health told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (http://bit.ly/2nXQe5J ).
State officials say the child’s name — ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah — should either be Handy, Walk or a combination of the two.
The couple gave her the name Allah because it is “noble,” they told the newspaper.
“Simply put, we have a personal understanding that we exercise in regards to the names,” Walk said. “It is nothing that we want to go into detail about, because it is not important. What is important is the language of the statute and our rights as parents.”
The ACLU of Georgia filed the lawsuit on behalf of the couple, who say they can’t get a Social Security number for their daughter because they don’t have a birth certificate. They also anticipate problems with access to health care, schools and travel, The Journal-Constitution reported.
“It is just plainly unfair and a violation of our rights,” Walk said.
The state’s decision is an example of government overreach and a violation of the First and 14th Amendments, ACLU of Georgia Executive Director Andrea Young said.
“The parents get to decide the name of the child. Not the state. It is an easy case,” said Michael Baumrind, another attorney representing the family.
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You can name a kid Jesus but not Allah? Stupid.
No, they could not give the child Jesus as a last name either, unless it was the last name of the mother or father. It’s State Law. They have EVERY right to use Allah as a middle name before the last name if they want. They can give the child 100 middle names if they want. But the last name must be one or both of the parents. Period.
Another waste of court time by a couple who KNOW this would make the news and get them their fame on talk shows, etc.
Oh, they can hire an attorney to change their own last names to Allah, and then the child would have the last name Allah. Why not just do that? Oh, I forgot, they crave attention and want to cry “victim!!!”. Morons.
And…? Is this a good state law? One which does not violate the Constitution? What public good is served by mandating the last name of a child?
If every civil liberties case could be shut down with simply, “it’s the law”, then there would be no progress on civil rights.
Yes, it’s a good law. Easier record keeping, etc. It creates a logistical mess in schools, public records, etc., to have haphazard last names. Notifications of next of kin, safety situations, there are all kinds of issues. It’s just easier to maintain the last name for all kinds of reasons.
A better question is why these morons are so obsessed with a last name? And if they don’t like their own, they can legally just change it and go through the proper channels, and then their child will also have that last name.
How in hell is this a civil rights issue? Are you for real? They can name their child anything they want, the last name just has to be one of the parents. How hard is this?
It’s stupid fucking shit like this that makes liberals look like a-holes, and does not help us in elections. And it’s a total waste of court time.
Hey, I think I will sue because I think I should not be legally required to have any name? Hey ACLU, I’m being oppressed, HELP!!! Or how about my SS number? Why is it that number? Why can’t I pick my own number? I want my birthday numbers on it, and also some letters. Why can’t I? I’m being oppressed.
Morons. Fight for Civil Rights, yes. But don’t whine about ridiculous bullshit because you think it’s cool to be a victim. Not only is that dumb, but it belittles people who actually are having their civil rights violated.
And the real irony is that if this was two Christian a-holes who wanted to give the last name Jesus to their kid, but were not allowed to, you’d be on the states side and making the exact same argument I am making. My argument is based on logic, yours is based on bias.
I would challenge that state law. My daughter’s last name is a combination of my wife’s and mine, not the same as either.