"DEPORTM". So says a license plate of a vehicle that has the Utah government under question, and the same "surprised" license officers. An event and a debate that occurs in other States and faces the First Amendment of the United States, which protects freedom of expression, among other values, with hateful or offensive messages that violate citizens' rights.
No one knows how a plaque with a message considered by many citizens as "horrible", "hateful" and "offensive" was approved by the Utah Division of Motor Vehicles in charge of reviewing, approving and / or rejecting personalized license plates.
"We are not sure how it happened. It left us surprised," said Tammy Kikuchi, spokesman for the city's Tax Commission, who is now studying the option of removing the plaque following the complaints of many users on social networks.
It was there that this particular case was announced. Matt Pacenza, a high school teacher in Utah, posted a tweet with the photo of the license plate and questioned the DLD directly.
https://twitter.com/mattpacenza/status/1215408374038163456
Shortly after Pacenza published the photo, he called the attention of state legislators to both ideologies, who asked for clarity about a process that allowed "DEPORTM" along the way.
“A private citizen has the right of a first amendment to say offensive things. The state does not, and has rules on registration, ”tweeted state Republican Senator Daniel W. Thatcher. “I think those rules have been violated here. Hopefully the Tax Commission will agree, ”he added.
https://twitter.com/SenThatcher/status/1215700578107416576
Then, his Democratic colleague in the Utah Senate, state senator Luz Escamilla, announced that lawmakers will debate on Wednesday what is needed to deny personalized plates and how the law is interpreted.
If a license plate is removed in Utah, the driver must respond within 15 days after notification and select a different one, according to KSL . The plaque owner can also file an appeal.
The teacher who tweeted for the first time about the tuition in question is proud that legislators are taking a step forward, maintaining that "DEPORTM" should not be allowed.
"I think there is a wide range of opinions in Utah when it comes to an issue like migration, and that's a good thing," he told KSL . "It's good to live in a place where we can express ourselves freely and have a diverse set of attitudes about complex issues, but I don't think the plates are the right place for that," he argued.
State debate
Several States have debated whether these types of custom badges are protected under the First Amendment in recent years, and the results have varied. As recently noted by UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, Maryland and Kentucky ruled in 2016 and 2019, respectively, that personalized license plates are protected as freedom of expression. Those rulings occurred after the Indiana Supreme Court went the other way in 2015, saying that "the plates have been used for a long time for governmental purposes."
In Washington, about 87,000 vehicles carry personalized license plates representing less than 2% of the 6.13 million passenger vehicles, trucks, motorcycles and trailers that could qualify for them. Custom license plates for passenger vehicles cost an additional $ 49.75 initially, and renovations are $ 32 a year, according to The Washington Post .
Most of the time, the plates requested do not clash with the legal requirements that prohibit the configurations considered offensive for good taste and decency, or as potentially deceptive, vulgar, profane or sexually suggestive, among other standards, according to the spokesperson of the State Department of Licensing (DOL).
Still, in response to complaints, each year the agency reviews about a dozen custom registrations and half are canceled. Regulators are noticing an emerging trend: the use of Spanish words in an apparent attempt to evade detection.
For example, CABRON was requested and granted to the owner of a 2001 Ford truck and was revoked in response to a complaint, despite the owner's claim that everything he represented was "California Bronze."
Then there was XPEHBAM, issued to a 1991 Plymouth Voyager, a Russian phrase for which DOL turned to a Russian translator for help before deciding to cancel it. Crosscut verified with Leszek Chudzinski, a senior Slavonic librarian at the Seattle Public Library, who described it as a curse that, exported to a plaque in the United States, amounts to "annoying the US."
In some cases, the owners have presented a compelling argument and the agency has reversed its decision to cancel a dish. The owner of a 2003 Volkswagen GTI defended himself after a policeman complained that his personalized license plate - 0241 - read backwards said I420, that the policeman claimed that it was associated with the culture of marijuana smoking. The owner replied that his VW was a limited edition and that the plate represented the serial number on the production line. "It turned out to be true," Benfield recalled, and the individual was allowed to keep the plate.
Those who are considering getting a personalized license plate can visit the DOL website where the queries are quickly selected using the database of active State license plates, as well as a list of approximately 600 prohibited combinations. The fact that a request is not automatically rejected does not necessarily mean that it will be accepted.
In the State of Texas, a team of five employees thoroughly studies an average of 130 daily applications, trying to capture creative arrangements of letters and numbers that may have slipped through their filter. The reviewers blocked, "WHTRASH", "KISS MYA", "FAHQYOO" "," BATCHIT "," OMW2FYW "and" PHOKYEW "in the last year.
"The average citizen of Texas is a fairly intelligent person to find quite innovative ways to express their thoughts," Tim Thompson, deputy director of the Vehicle Title and Registration Division of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, told KUT .
The sensitivity to derogatory language even extends to seemingly innocuous jargon, such as "CANUCK," which can be used as a derogatory term for Canadians, although a professional hockey team uses the name.
The derogatory state coups against the president were also vetoed by state workers, according to the review of records dating back to the beginning of 2017. "NO TRUMP" was rejected as a personalized plaque at the time of Donald Trump's inauguration. Other anti-Trump badges that did not outperform inspectors included "EF TRUMP", "FKTRUMP" and "FUTRUMP".
The evaluators also try to keep abreast of anything that may hint at the use of drugs, since mentions of illegal activity are prohibited. "DAT PURP", "BLAZINN" and "WHIPET" were rejected in the last year.
Another prohibited category includes anything that can misidentify the vehicle as associated with law enforcement. "POLICE1", "K9RSQ" and "NVYCOP" were rejected last year.
The vast majority of plaque requests do not contain objectionable content. Of the 24.5 million vehicles registered in the State, approximately 200,000 - 0.8% - have personalized license plates.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles rejects "any custom registration settings that have offensive connotations for good taste and decency." In general terms, this covers everything that has a sexual, racial or profane meaning, even if it is not intentional. When a client requested a plaque with his last name, Moorehed, the reviewers denied him because of his possible profanity. Although the client's last name was really Moorehead, they explained, "it seems" more head, "as in" a sexual reference, "according to Los Angeles Magazine .
Useful departmental guides also warn reviewers to be careful with words such as "pink," "monkey," and "muffin," all euphemisms for the vagina, along with their phallic counterparts such as "knackers," "anaconda," and " nards. " The configuration with the word "hate" is also rejected. Pig references such as "pig", "swine", or even "oink" are also prohibited because they are considered derogatory to the police. More controversial, the rules allow any place with the word "jew (Jewish)", indicative of the function of the word as identifier and pejorative. References to Christians, Muslims and Buddhists are allowed.
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