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NH plate AXDCYF
NH Vanity Plate AXDCYF

2002 November 3
Well, the impasse over the plate appears to be over for now. I originally did ask Virginia Beecher what rules would permit me to express my dissatisfaction with DCYF without running afoul of the rules. She never replied, so other than the DMV's
Initial Plate Search service that can report H8 not allowed, I'm still on my own. So I tried to get "AXDCYF," and got it with nothing more than a chuckle from the town clerk. Despite the violent connotations, it is an appropriate license plate in NH. Meldrim Thompson ran, and won, for governor with his slogan "Axe the Tax!" That was some 30 years ago, and we still don't have an Income Tax. Well, we do have a payroll tax which is a kissing cousin to an income tax and even more onerous in some ways.

Here are some comments on the plate:

I suppose I should have seen this result of the "anti-hate-crime" movement: *Hating* is now an offense, while actual violence, performed with an ax no less, is not! :)
Libertarian Activist

Ummm ok so you had a plate that said h8dcyf now .. let me get this straight, you can ax dcyf?? ok this (I'm laughing my a** off) is violent isn't it??
Former client

Good ole Virginia...
NH Attorney

Only until some DCYF nazi sees it and complains.....
Another Libertarian


2004 July (or something in that timeframe)
No official complaints yet. I think I should be disappointed, or maybe upset, but maybe Virginia has learned that doing favors for the folks at DCYF who don't like my license plates is a losing proposition.

However, I found a rather interesting indian battle hatchet drawing in one of my colonial era resources. Interesting enough so that I paint one (including blood drops) on the back of the car next to the license plate!


September 2005
It's county fair season! I've been displaying my license plate quilt at various settings, and this year I've entered it into the Home Arts competition at the Hopkinton State Fair. They don't have the best space to display quilts, but it's judged the Best in Show and given the best spot in the hall.

One person who saw it was sufficiently annoyed that he sent me this note:

You are truly pathetic. It's amazing that you could be so unprofessional, childish and irresponsible, yet still try to come across like you are defending justice in the name of the law.

He made similar comments on a TeamWarfare computer game forum, which attracted similar comments from other members. When our daughter heard about this, she pleaded to take them on, and put on such a strong defense some members had trouble believing she was a high school sophomore. By the time one of the regulars posted a note about his family's problems with DCYF she had them pretty well straightened out. There's also some grudging admiration in a Tribal War forum.


December 2005
One of Hannah's school friends is in foster care near us. Like many foster children, she is in yet another placement, but this isn't the place for the details. The current placement is so restrictive that Michelle is in virtual house arrest. While the separation from her biological family was a good thing, she deserves a better fate than this.

My family decides that the best thing to do is volunteer to take her in. While my sewing room is a very important refuge for me, this is more important. So Ric and I start taking foster care classes so we can get foster licenses, I take on the local DCYF people to get them to understand what is happening and DCYF comes to terms with the entire concept that not only Public Enemy #1 is right, but that our home would be the best place for Michelle.

It takes DCYF a little while to realize that they now have some leverage over us. They do figure it out and one of their demands is that AXDCYF goes. We decide that the best interests of the child trump my own right to free speech and acquiesce.


What could I do? I was outnumbered and outgunned; it was two DMV officers armed with semi-automatic pistols and a screwdriver, against a middle-aged housewife armed with a camera and a pet rabbit!


Continue with the next license plate, FIX169C.


Contact Paula Werme, Esq. or visit her Law Practice home page.
Contact Ric Werme or return to his home page.

Last updated 2007 April 4.