to do today pay bills
write bmv letter
outline other letters or memos
get prop list together.

Michael Kalsek, (317) 272-0477, 7144 Maple Dr, Avon
credman@bmv.in.gov carol redman
mary de prez bmv593@bmv.in.gov
mkalsek@bmv.in.gov
draft only do not send
11/19/04

Carol Redman
Director, Driver's licenses
Bureau of Moter Vehicles
Government Center North 4th floor
402 W Washington St
Indianapolis IN 46204
cc: Mike Kalsek
Mike Caudill

Dear Ms. Redman,

I am writing to thank you for your help Wednesday in fixing the error on my drivers license.

It took six hours of my time, but it was important enough to do that.
Wednesday night I was able to go to the pharmacy and obtain my pain medication - I recently had surgery and was not able to fill the prescription without an ID with my name on it. I will be able to fly again, cash checks, apply for jobs, and all the things that I haven't been able to do during this past year during which the BMV had ben refusing to allow me to replace my stolen ID, and then last week issued me one that didn't have my name on it, but had a name that used be mine back in 1960.

However, it was clear to me from the hostility and reluctance to comply with your instructions that I encountered at the Beech Grove office, that the problem hasn't been fixed, only an exception made in my case.

So I am writing to request that the procedures be corrected so that this doesn't happen again to anyone else, and that I receive written confirmation of those changes, which I will verify with performance audit at some future date.

To briefly summarize, here's what happened. I've had an Indiana driver's license in my own name, Robbin G Stewart, for ten years. My license was stolen or lost.
I had to hire a lawyer to get my birth certificate, since the state of issuance wouldn't give it to me without a drivers license. My birth certificate is not in my present name. Delaware, like Indiana, does not require a court order to change one's name. "In fact, there is no legal requirement that any person go through the courts to establish a legal change of name." Petition of Hauptly, 312 N.E.2d 857 (IN 1974).

While Indiana has a process to go to court to change one's name, which is optional and not required under the law, it does not have any process to go to court keep one's name the same, which was my situation - I have had my current name for all my adult life.

When the Beech Grove employees changed my name on my official records, over my objections, without statutory or regulatory authority, and without any court order allowing them to do so, they violated my civil right to due course of law under Article I Section 12 of the Indiana constitution, as well as due process actionable under 42 USC 1983.

I am glad we were able to resolve this matter in my case, but I need assurance he next person won't be similarly victimized. I got lucky in being able to get in to see you, after the receptionist assured me what I wanted was impossible and that the BMV
doesn't provide, or have to provide, written policies. Once I met you things got better; you were helpful and friendly, and within a few hours you were able to authorize the correction of the records. But not everyone else has my skills and persistance.

The issue is this: BVM employees have no authority to go around changing people's names. They have no authority to deny issuance of a duplicate ID to person who has complied with the documentation requirements of a birth certificate. Nothing in law or regulation says the birth certificate has to reflect the current name - frequently it doesn't, as in the case of most married women.

The procedures statement they relied on says only that documents should be changed to reflect a person's legal name - not that staff should take it on themselves to change documents to something which is not the person's legal name. Their behavior was arbitrary and capricious. Terrorism would be a fair word for it.

Again, thank you so much for your help in getting this all straitened out in my case. Please keep my posted of your efforts to fix the problem more generally.

Sincerely,
Robbin Stewart, esq.
----
ok so what i've done today was write to the guy who screwed up my license, write to his boss who fixed it, her boss, and the governor's office.
i now have 5 hours before my next meeting,i could pay bills and do laundry,
or surf the net for a few minutes first, he said....

then to do:
check for chuck, fold clothes, make hummus, (but i have no tahini),
remember the slurs album release party.
tomorrow: draft plan of attack in legislative fix to IC 3-9-3-2.5.

stuff on my mind at 6:20 am monday morning:
- letter to bmv.
- letter to governor.re disclaimers.
- letter to AG seeking state con law disclaimer ruling.
- letter to Scott Rokita re disclaimer policy.
- memo notes for caudill.
- plan of attack for litigation.

bring in shelf.
- pay electric bill, review other bills.
- get rat stuff, hardware store.
unicorn, walmart
make better to do list.
- get monitor.
- talk to joell.
- saran hiring?
- caito hiring for dan _

next day:
the only i did yesterday was go to the unicorn. $15, fun, drank too much.

to do today: rat poison. take out trash.
tomorrow:
call to see what time appointment is. that means get up early.
might be 10:00.
make agenda.
for right now, i have to go to store before it closes.
then i can come back and ad stuff here.

In fact, there is no legal requirement that any person go through the courts to establish a legal change of name." [Petition of Hauptly, 312 N.E.2d 857 (IN 1974).]

Despite the fact that no law says that a married woman must use her husband's surname, the custom is so strong that recently there have been court cases over the issue.

A case arose in St. Joseph County, IN, that was finally settled in the Indiana Supreme Court: Elizabeth Marie Howard married Denis J. Hauptly. When they first married, she began using his last name. She decided to revert to using her own surname only.

Howard filed a petition in the St. Joseph County Circuit Court Jan. 17, 1972, asking that her name be changed to Howard on all legal documents which had listed her as Elizabeth Hauptly since her marriage.

Joseph W. Nyikos, then the judge of the St. Joseph County Circuit Court, ruled against the woman. She appealed and lost in the Indiana Court of Appeals. [Petition of Hauptly, 294 N.E.2d 833 (1973).]

Howard finally won her appeal June 25, 1974, in the Indiana Supreme Court when the court ruled against the lower courts, thus establishing a legal precedent for that which had always been legal -- the right of a married woman to use her own name. The Court wrote, "A woman has a common law right to do business in a name other than her married name. In fact, there is no legal requirement that any person go through the courts to establish a legal change of name." [Petition of Hauptly, 312 N.E.2d 857 (IN 1974).]

When Howard appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court, in the state's case against her the attorney general's brief called Howard a "sick and confused woman, unhappy with her marriage." After one of the Indiana Supreme Court justices said that such comments in the brief were improper, the attorney general said he was only trying to inject humor into a dull brief.

i need a plan for the day:
get ID.
bath, suit, several forms of ID, 6 items.
start memo to jewelry doctor.
i'm already upset over the idea of going to the bmv.
to do make some notes about spending this month.
call dentist.
$80 dentist,
$40 plates,
$15 unicorn
$10 metro
$20 walmart, big lots
$20 gas
$500 car
to do: get insurance
get bar card.
to do this week: visit jail.
make representation letter for mark gann.
to do: pay electric bill, phone bill, gas bill. internet bill.