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If you can get a New Jersey vanity license plate that reads “BAPTIST,†why not one that reads “8THEIST�
That’s the question Shannon Morgan, a self-describe atheist, is asking in a lawsuit after the New Jersey department of motor vehicles denied her vanity plate application.
Her main complaint is a bureaucracy deeming that “8THEIST†has connotations that offend “good taste and decency,†the bar which the state uses to judge the suitability of personalized plate messages. She also wants the state to adopt a more “viewpoint-neutral†vanity plate approval policy, since when she typed “BAPTIST†into the DMV application it was accepted.
Given that a joke is judged by the chuckle of the beholder, states have struggled in recent years to balance the innocent against the indecent when it comes to personal exhortations on state-owned license plates.
Plates such as “BAD HASS,†“MERLOT,†“MPEACHW,†“GOES211â€and “ISNOGOD†have all been rescinded by various state DMVs after complaints were filed. Meanwhile, “AAAGH,†“K BYE†and “TIKL ME†are all fine. Americans take to vanity plates like flies to molasses, with some 10 million in circulation, meaning millions in extra revenue for the state. Ronald Reagan had his own California plate: “GIPPER.â€
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An informal poll by a New Jersey newspaper suggested that Morgan has the people’s support, with three out of four respondents saying New Jersey should just give her a plate. (If not, as one commenter noted, Morgan should try to get one that says “JRZ SKS.â€)
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