Lawsuit seeks to bar Wisconsin DOT from rejecting personalized license plates

MADISON – A new lawsuit seeks to bar the state Department of Transportation from rejecting personalized license plates, citing First Amendment protections.

The conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed the challenge this week in the Western District U.S. District Court, arguing the state "uses subjective and arbitrary decisions" when determining what a driver is allowed to display on a custom plate.

"Every citizen has the First Amendment right to express themselves, and that includes the message they convey with their personalized license plates," WILL Deputy Counsel Lucas Vebber said in a statement. "Unfortunately, state law empowers bureaucrats at the Department of Transportation to decide what speech is good, and what speech is bad directly violating the First Amendment rights of Wisconsinites."

A DOT spokesperson said the agency is unable to comment on ongoing litigation.

The DOT's Division of Motor Vehicles rejects hundreds of license plate applications per year for reasons ranging from vulgar language to gang references. Last year, the DMV's Special Plate Unit denied 349 applications out of more than 27,000. Of the 13 reasons the DMV might deny a personalized license plate, derogatory language is the most frequently cited. Over half of all license plates denied in 2023 were denied under this reason.

A plate may be rejected if it is deemed to be "offensive to good taste or decency, misleading or conflicts with any other license plate."

The SPU reviews applications to see if they fall under any of the categories that make a license plate objectionable. Most often, a processor reviews the plates first. If they think a plate is questionable, they forward it to a panel of seven to nine people for further review. Only then can a custom license plate be rejected.

As of 2021, the most recent year for which data are available, almost a quarter of a million drivers in Wisconsin use a personalized license plate .

WILL is representing Michael Nichols, a Town of LaFayette resident who in 2001 obtained the personalized plate "RD RRAGE" for his Pontiac Firebird Trans Am W6. The lawsuit describes Nichols as "a car collector and enthusiast who obtains personalized registration plates for each of his vehicles."

According to the complaint, Nichols kept the plate until he returned the car via a "lemon law" buyback in 2003. Several years ago, Nichols acquired another Pontiac Firebird Trans Am W6 and sought to display the same plates. He was told the plate was not available and learned from a public records request that it was included on the list of "objectionable" registration plates.

The lawsuit argues "the opportunity for viewpoint discrimination" is evidenced by the fact that Nichols was initially able to receive the "RD RRAGE" plate but was later denied.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lawsuit seeks to bar Wisconsin DOT from rejecting personalized license plates