Are There Content Restrictions on Vanity License Plates?

Yes, vanity license plates can have content restrictions. Each state sets rules for personalized plates, and those rules can prohibit certain words, phrases, or messages. But there is a First Amendment wrinkle here. When you choose the letters and numbers on your plate, you may be expressing your own message, which can limit how far the government can go in deciding what you are allowed to say.

For legal help involving a vanity plate, you can speak with a civil rights attorney through the Super Lawyers directory.

What Is a Vanity License Plate?

To legally drive a vehicle on the road, you need to register it with your state. All registered vehicles are issued a plate or plates mounted on the back or front of the vehicle. The plates feature unique letter/number combinations that identify the vehicle to its registered owner.

Standard issue plates have a random combination of characters. Personalized license plates let you choose the combination. These differ from commemorative or special plates, which have a random alphanumeric code on a state-approved design.

Some states require vehicle owners to pay an annual renewal fee to maintain their specialty or vanity license plate.

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Why Do States Restrict What You Put on a Vanity Plate?

State governments can restrict what people put on their vanity plates. Several legitimate reasons explain this. To help prevent unwanted or unacceptable vanity plates, many states have an application process.

Before receiving specialty plates, a vehicle owner submits a special license plate application to their state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Requiring approval helps to prevent duplicate or confusingly similar combinations. It can ensure that combinations that violate the state’s policies are not approved. Many states have created rules for vanity plates.

While the specific rules vary, some commonalities remain. States generally don’t allow vanity plates that:

• Falsely suggest an association with a government institution or agency
• Duplicate another plate
• Encourage violence or unlawful activity
• Are profane or obscene
• Make certain derogatory references
• Connote genitalia or relate to sexual acts

When Do Vanity Plate Restrictions Raise First Amendment Issues?

Because states restrict what people can put on their vanity plates, citizens have raised First Amendment concerns. After all, it’s a form of expression.

One core legal question is whether a vanity plate is personal or government speech. If the government is speaking through the plate, the First Amendment generally does not prevent it from choosing its own message. Texas took this approach, ruling that specialty plates were a government-run program. That made it government speech, giving the state authority to approve which messages.

Other states took the opposite position. Virginia’s Fourth Circuit held that personalized vanity plates are private speech. The driver chooses the unique letters and numbers that communicate the message. That doesn’t mean that Virginia can’t regulate personalized plates. Instead, Virginia must ensure its restrictions don’t violate First Amendment protections.

Are Profanity and Obscene Language Automatically Protected on a Vanity Plate?

It’s human nature to want to put something that is controversial on custom license plates. This includes obscene language like swear words. If you have a four-letter word in mind, it’s probably not the answer you were hoping for. States can restrict profanity and obscene language on vanity plates, and some state regulations say so expressly.

States may ban certain content, including swear words, references to bodily functions, or other language they consider offensive. Some states also look beyond the exact spelling. A word that is prohibited when written normally may still be rejected if you try to get around the rule with phonetic spelling or a mirror image of the letters. In other words, changing how a message looks or sounds does not necessarily make it acceptable under the state’s rules.

Still, a DMV rule does not automatically settle the First Amendment question. If the personalized message is private speech, the state may have constitutional limits on how it can regulate that speech. A court could consider whether the restriction is applied consistently, whether it targets a particular viewpoint, and whether the government’s reason for restricting the message is sufficient under the First Amendment.

What About Political, Religious, or Controversial Messages?

Political slogans, religious references, criticism of government, and other controversial statements can raise particularly important First Amendment questions when they appear on a personalized plate.

If the message is private speech, the government generally cannot reject it simply because officials or members of the public disagree with the viewpoint it expresses. For example, a state could face a constitutional problem if it allowed vanity plates supporting a particular political position but rejected plates expressing the opposing position.

That analysis starts with the nature of the state’s plate program. In Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., the Supreme Court determined that Texas’s specialty plate designs constituted government speech. The government therefore had more control over the messages appearing in that program.

Personalized plates can present a different question when the driver, rather than the state, selects the message. The specific rules and the way the program operates therefore matter when determining whether a restriction violates the First Amendment.

Do Vanity Plate Rules Apply Equally Across the United States?

First Amendment protections are federal, so they apply equally across all 50 states. Individual state regulations are different. They can vary because each state establishes its own program and rules. One state may reject a vanity plate combination that another allows.

What Can You Do If Your Vanity Plate Application Is Rejected?

If the state rejects your vanity plate application, first find out why. That state’s rejection letter will typically include a reason. Look up your state’s vanity plate regulations. Compare those regulations to your vanity plate choice. Determine if the rejection is administrative or about the actual message itself. If so, the rejection letter may include an appeals or review process.

It may be worth appealing if you believe the rejection was incorrect. If you believe that the rejection is a First Amendment issue, consider speaking with a civil rights attorney. A lawyer can review the facts and advise whether the rejection involved a First Amendment-protected right. The message would typically need to involve political, religious, ideological, or other protected expression.

Seek Legal Advice

Vanity license plates may seem like a small thing, but the message on your plate can raise a surprisingly complicated legal question. States can restrict personalized plates, but the First Amendment may limit how they apply those restrictions when the plate communicates private speech. An attorney can look at the applicable state rules, the reason for the rejection, and the First Amendment issues involved.

Visit the Super Lawyers directory to find a civil rights attorney who can evaluate your situation.