Fourth Circuit rules personalized anti-police plate is protected speech
The Fourth Circuit held that a Virginia driver’s vulgar vanity plate is private speech under the First Amendment, overturning a lower court’s dismissal.
A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit reversed a district court ruling that had dismissed a First Amendment challenge by Curtis Whateley, who contested the Virginia DMV’s removal of his personalized license plate bearing the acronym “FTP&ATF.” The judges concluded that vanity plates are a form of private expression, not government speech, citing precedents such as Matal v. Tam and Walker v. Texas Division. Judge Pamela Harris argued that the plate’s message is unmistakably the driver’s, and the public does not perceive each plate as a state-issued statement.
While affirming that the DMV may reject vulgar or offensive combinations, the court held that such decisions must be evaluated under the appropriate forum analysis, which the lower court must now conduct. The decision marks the first federal appellate ruling on the speech status of personalized plates and may shape future state policies on vanity-plate censorship. The Attorney General’s office has not commented on the ruling.
Why it matters
The decision clarifies that personalized license plates are private speech, limiting state authority to censor offensive messages.
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