Canadian Judge Scolds "Pastafarian" Suing Over Drivers' License Photo

Canada's National Post reported this week on the unfriendly reception given by a Canadian judge to a woman who belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster who argued that she should be able to wear a colander or a pirate's hat in her drivers' license photo. Isabelle Narayana sued when the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec told her that only medical or religious exceptions were allowed to the requirement that her photo be taken bareheaded.  Narayana argued that she should have the same right as Muslim women to wear a head covering, and later showed up wearing a headscarf that she said was the costume of a female pirate who happened to be Muslim.  The license bureau took her photo wearing the headscarf and issued her license.  However she insisted on litigating. A Montreal Superior Court judge ruled that her suit was moot since she was issued a license and admonished her:

Too many people implicated in real litigation with consequences that could affect their lives or those of their children or enterprise are waiting their turn in court for us to be silent about the monopolization of these resources to determine if the plaintiff can be photographed wearing a colander or pirate hat.  We forget too often that the courts are a public service with limited resources that must not be abused.