Pa. Judge Won't Let 'God' Sign License

Pa. Judge Won't Let 'God' Sign License

READING, Pa. (AP) - Regardless of how he had signed a stack of other documents, from bank records to income tax returns, a judge rejected a man's request to be allowed to legally sign his driver's license as "God."

Berks County Senior Judge Forrest G. Schaeffer ruled Thursday that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation could require the man to sign his given name, Paul S. Sewell, and said documents he had signed in the past didn't prove differently.

"The so-called name you want to apply is rather a series of scribbled marks and don't establish any name at all," Schaeffer said. Sewell, 40, said he would appeal.

Sewell said he is a self-employed bond enforcement agent and began using the signature because fugitives always prefaced their comments with, "Oh, God," when he captured them.