Prior Restraint

Robert William Handley, 53, looks like Santa Claus. His car sports the plate “IMSANTA”, and the Ohio man works holidays as a Santa. But Ohio Magistrate Thomas A. Stone has turned down Handley’s legal petition to change his name to Santa Claus so that children won’t be upset when he dies. “An obituary for Santa Claus would be the inevitable result of a name change to Santa Claus,” Stone wrote in his decision. Handley says he will appeal. “Children who believe in Santa Claus generally don’t read the paper,” he said. And “they certainly don’t read the obituaries.” (AP) ...Time magazine proclaiming “God is Dead”: a quaint bit of history. A newspaper reporting “Santa Claus Dies”: a catastrophe too burdensome to bear.