california freedom-of-speech license-plates
Can the government force you to change your license plate?
<p>There was an <a href="https://knrs.iheart.com/content/2019-08-12-clever-vanity-license-plate-backfires-on-man-winds-up-with-tons-of-tickets/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">interesting story on hacker news</a> today: A man with the vanity plate <code>NULL</code> ended up gettings thousands of dollars of parking tickets because of a computer glitch. When he complained about this to the DMV they told him to change his plate.</p>

<p>He says he won't and it sounds like this will be working its way through the courts. Is there any precedent though for the government forcing a person to change their plate? Obviously this brings up free speech issues, but there are also legitimate governmental concerns. </p>

<p><a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-144_758b.pdf" rel="noreferrer">Walker (Texas DMV) v. Sons of Confederate Veterans</a> holds that </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Texas’s  specialty  license  plate  designs  constitute  government
  speech,  and  thus  Texas  was  entitled  to  refuse  to  issue 
  plates  featuring SCV’s proposed design...</p>
  
  <p>When  government  speaks,  it  is  not  barred  by  the  Free  Speech 
  Clause from determining the content of what it says</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The plate "NULL" falls into the category covered by this ruling. The court has</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>'refused  “[t]o  hold  that  the  Government   unconstitutionally<br>
  discriminates   on   the   basis   of   viewpoint when it chooses to
  fund a program dedicated to advance certain permissible goals, because
  the program in advancing  those  goals  necessarily  discourages 
  alternative goals.”'</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In the aforementioned case, the viewpoint that was not permitted was arguably a pro-Confederate viewpoint, and it was ruled that the government has no obligation to express such a viewpoint.</p>

<p>The court found that strict scrutiny under the Free Speech Clause is not applicable in this case; in a potential application of strict scrutiny to the instant circumstances, the government is actually on even stronger footing, since there is a compelling government interest at stake (the ability to bill people for road usage without the need for toll booths). Governments have long been able to restrict insulting and profane words as vanity plates. I would be very surprised if he is able to force the government to accept this plate.</p>

<p>Vanity plates are always issued at the discretion of the the DMV of any state; that option is written into each states' law. Plates can be denied due to obscenity, references to crimes or drugs, or anything the DMV decides is distracting or offensive to drivers or the public. See <a href="https://www.google.com/search?&amp;q=DMV+denied+vanity+plates" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.google.com/search?&amp;q=DMV+denied+vanity+plates</a></p>

<p>The DMV has final discretion over plates; they can cancel any plate and require anyone to get a new plate. The new plate can be whatever the driver wants, as long as it's not an already rejected vanity plate. </p>

<p>People have sued over being denied their particular plate, claiming free speech. One such case: <a href="https://www.kusi.com/lawsuit-challenges-dmvs-rejection-of-personalized-license-plate/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lawsuit challenges DMV's rejection of personalized license plate</a>.</p>
