# Utah judge overrules their DMV-says free speech IS legal!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utah-judge-overrules-their-dmv-says-free-speech-is-legal/314657>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 28, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utah-judge-overrules-their-dmv-says-free-speech-is-legal/314657 "2005-07-28T22:00:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utah-judge-overrules-their-dmv-says-free-speech-is-legal/314657/1 "2005-07-28T22:00:20Z")

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So my title over simplifies a little. Here are the obligatory links:

[http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600151636,00.html](http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600151636,00.html)

[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8734642/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8734642/)

So a woman in Utah wanted a license plate that reads GAYSROK, and was turned down by the DMV, which stated “license plates are a non-public forum” ,(HUH?) that sexually related statements are indecent and offensive, and so on.

Thank heavens a judge has stepped in and overruled the DMV. In the words of the woman’s lawyer, from the ACLU, "The government can’t pick and choose what subjects it likes and dislikes.”

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**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utah-judge-overrules-their-dmv-says-free-speech-is-legal/314657/2 "2005-07-29T00:23:00Z")

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This reminds me of a story I was told about a descendant of Major General Joseph Hooker who was initially denied personalized plates because he wanted them to read ‘Hooker.’ According to the story, he eventually got his plates.

The California DMV let a plate get through with a word that is an obscenity in spanish. I thought they checked that sort of thing pretty carefully, but there it was on a car ahead of me.

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**Author:** ![available\_light](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@available\_light](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/available_light)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utah-judge-overrules-their-dmv-says-free-speech-is-legal/314657/3 "2005-07-29T02:56:17Z")

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Yeah, here in California the other day I saw a license plate that said “CHS LIFE” or something very similar. I’d bet money that that would have passed through the Utah DMV without a hitch.

from the Deseret News Link:

> [@](#):
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> However, Solomon’s plates were denied by the Motor Vehicles Division of the Utah State Tax Commission, which said personalized plates are a “non-public forum” and not a place for the expression of controversial opinion.

Yeah, right. :rolleyes:

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utah-judge-overrules-their-dmv-says-free-speech-is-legal/314657/4 "2005-07-29T03:12:50Z")

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I have to wonder how many languages they check potential license plates against. If I went out and got one that swore in French or Spanish, I’d probably get dinged. But what about Ethiopian, Estonian, Esperanto, or Chinese? All of those languages are spoken where I live, plus a hundred others.