Can the government prohibit racially insensitive license plates?
The answer is less than clear. The government certainly has an obligation and a legal duty not to discriminate against persons based on race. But if a plate is truly private speech, the question becomes whether the state can prevent an individual from requesting a racially insensitive message. One federal appeals court ruled that the state of Missouri violated the First Amendment when it refused to issue the vanity plate “ARYAN-1.” According to the court, the state’s department of motor vehicles “may not censor a license plate because its message might make people angry.” Likewise, a few courts have determined that a state may not prohibit Confederate flag logos when it allows other specialty license plates to contain logos. However, a state could advance a compelling interest in prohibiting the issuance of license plates that contain explicit racial slurs.
