Thanks to Rob Moritz of Stephens Media for coverage of a legislative discussion yesterday of evolving law on vanity license plates. All states try to police applications for naughty or inflammatory words. But the group heard yesterday that a court in Georgia had overturned that state's denial of a plate by someone who's now won the ability to have a GAYPWR plate.
Ho Lee Fuk
No telling what somebody might want to put on their car if the state wasn't careful.
Here's the Georgia background and the changed law as a result.
The emergency regulation clarifies the standards for vanity tags in Georgia. It will expire in 120 days, and the state will hold public hearings on making the changes permanent, said Rick Gardner, supervisor of the Georgia Department of Revenue's tax policy office.License plates can mention a sexual orientation but cannot disparage it or any religious beliefs, ethnicity, race or gender, according to the rules.
"Special prestige license plates will not be issued for letter/number combinations" that refer to sexual acts or body parts, bodily fluids, profanity, weapons, drugs, criminal activity and alcohol. The words "hate" and "suck" are also banned.
No legislative committee in Arkansas has been asked yet for similar latitude here.