Teacher Shares Photo Of ‘Offensive’ License Plate Online, Now The State Is Investigating
Note: we are republishing this story which originally made the news in January 2020. A picture of a vanity license plate surfaced on Twitter, and Utah residents are concerned. The tweet was posted by a high school teacher in Utah, Matt Pacenza. Pacenza’s tweet read; “Hey (Utah Driver License Division), how does this plate I just saw not violate your guidelines?” Over 100 people were quick to comment on the post, and many used words like “horrific” to describe the plates. One user also commented; “that should never have been accepted by the DMV.” When contacted by KSL, a CNN affiliate, the public information officer with the state Department of Motor Vehicles, Tammy Kikuchi, confirmed that the vanity license plate had been approved back in 2015. Offensive speech that does not consist of true threats or incitement to violence is protected by the First Amendment. However, there are specific rules that apply to customized license plates. See the plate down below:
According to the Utah DMV website, license plates combinations that are “vuIgar, de rogatory, pro fane or obscene and express contempt, ridicule or superiority of ethnic heritage, gender” are prohibited. Scheduled to be present at the meeting were representatives from the Tax Commission and the DMV. The committee is set to find out how decisions accepting or denying personalized license plates are made. When KUTV asked the DMV for a list of license plates that had been rejected, they received more than 100 of them. They included “SAUSAGE,” “W1NGMAN,” and “PLAN B.” Sources: CNN / Photo Credit: Twitter/Matt Pacenza