In 2007, independent filmmaker George Kalman filed paperwork with the Pennsylvania Department of State Corporation Bureau to register the name "I Choose Hell Productions L.L.C." Kalman’s application was denied due to a 1977 state law that forbids blasphemy and profanity in company names. Mr. Kalman’s initial reaction was disbelief that quickly turned into anger and then action. Kalman, a Downingtown, Pennsylvania resident stated, “They’re actually imposing their religious beliefs on me, they’re saying that you either believe what we believe or we won’t let you live your life.” Kalman filed under the corporate name I.C.H Productions and then filed suit against Pennsylvania.
Fast forward to Wednesday, June 30th, 2010. U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson issued a 68-page summary judgment, in favor of Kalman. Baylson said the 1977 law barring the use of "words that constitute blasphemy, profane cursing or swearing or that profane the Lord's name" violates the First Amendment guarantee of free speech and protections against laws that promote any religion. The 1977 blasphemy law was passed after an outcry from some churches over the incorporation of a McKeesport businessman's gun store as "The God Damn Gun Shop," according to Baylson's ruling. The problem, Baylson wrote, was that the only religion that seemed to matter was Christianity, and workers at the Department of State’s Corporation Bureau arbitrarily applied the rules with no training in religion. Then there was the matter of an ever-changing list of forbidden words.
Officials in the Pennsylvania State Department, which oversees the bureau, were conferring with lawyers Thursday about the prospect of an appeal, said department spokesman Charlie Young. Between October 2005 and October 2009, the department rejected 11 corporation filings, including Kalman's, on grounds that they violated the law, Young said.
“No offense was intended to anyone. It's an anti-suicide message,” Kalman explained, “as in hell on Earth is better than the alternative.”
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