N.H. Suspends Vanity Plates

[Silent_Bob]

http://www.vnews.com/news/state/region/12600478-95/nh-suspends-vanity-plates

West Lebanon — New Hampshire residents hoping to get creative through their license plates will have to wait until the state figures out what standards it can enforce for vanity plates.

Following a state Supreme Court ruling in May that found current law governing the wording on vanity plates to be "unconstitutionally vague," the Department of Motor Vehicles has temporarily suspended the issuance of vanity plates as it revises the wording.

Normally, New Hampshire residents can apply for vanity plates at the DMV or through their town or city clerks. In addition to the regular fees for registration, there is a $40 fee for vanity plates.

Officials in several New Hampshire municipalities, including Lebanon, Hanover and Plainfield, said Tuesday they were not issuing new vanity plates at the direction of the DMV.

"Anyone that has a vanity plate and wants to renew it is fine, but for any new ones there's a waiting period until (DMV officials) figure out how they're going to proceed," said Plainfield Town Clerk Michelle Marsh.

"We're accepting applications from folks and telling them that they're temporarily on hold, pending a resolution of this issue," said Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin.

Current state law prohibits vanity plates that "a reasonable person would find offensive to good taste," but does not define "good taste." The law came into question when the DMV refused to allow Rochester, N.H., resident David Montenegro to have a license plate reading "COPSLIE."

Montenegro had also sought other wording for a vanity plate, including "GOVTLAZ" and "GOVTSUX."

The state Supreme Court ruling found that the standard could lead to arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement, writing, "Because the 'offensive to good taste' standard is not susceptible of objective definition, the restriction grants DMV officials the power to deny a proposed vanity registration plate because it offends particular officials' subjective idea of what is 'good taste.' "

Vermont's law regarding vanity plates is more specific than New Hampshire's. The law prohibits language that is vulgar, obscene, sexual or related to drugs and alcohol.

Following the May court ruling, the New Hampshire DMV submitted more specific wording to the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, which approved it on June 20.

According to Senior Assistant Attorney General Richard Head, the Attorney General's Office collaborated with the DMV to revise the law.

"We often do work with agencies following Supreme Court decisions," Head said.

Similar to Vermont's law, the new wording would prohibit language related to sex, violence, drugs, gangs or bigotry. The so-called "interim rule" also states that any vanity plate in New Hampshire "which does not conform with the requirements, regardless of when the plate was issued" will be recalled.

Following the Joint Legislative Committee's approval, the DMV has 30 days to adopt the interim rule, but the DMV has not yet done so.

Messages left Tuesday for DMV Director Richard Bailey were not returned Tuesday.

"They've got work to do on their protocol and their approval process," Griffin said. "The ball is in the DMV's and the attorney general's court."

[Russell Kanning]

I know when I see an offensive plate.

[Jim Johnson]

When something offends you, you should ask, "Am I seeing a truth that I don't want to admit" and you will always say no...

but the answer is always yes.

[Free libertarian]

There's alot of ironical humor when a state approved license plate says "live free or die" on it.    I know ironical humor when I see it.

[dalebert]

When something offends you, you should ask, "Am I seeing a truth that I don't want to admit" and you will always say no...

but the answer is always yes.

Hey, that offends me! Wait...

Seriously though, I half agree but I do have a small beef with this. Being offended is meaningless in and of itself. The problem I have is with people who try to use it in that manner as if they have a right to not be offended. I think offense is a natural part of strong disagreement. The real question is can you intelligently defend WHY you're offended and turn it into a valid argument. Your feelz are not an argument.

[Free libertarian]

People get offended because they take offense.  Taking offense might be stealing, if the offense doesn't belong to you.  Oh shit....I'm confused now.   

[Jim Johnson]

I give offense freely.

[dalebert]

When people are using their feelz as an argument, I think it's totally appropriate to troll the living eff out of them. Show that their feelz are not working. The goal is to make you pull your punches for the sake of their delicate sensibilities. Do the opposite. Get even more cruel with your brutal truths. If you catch me seeming to TRY to offend someone on my show, that's actually my response to bad (or completely missing) arguments combined with attempts to emotionally manipulate others into silence.

[Russell Kanning]

I know when I see an offensive plate.

I was trying a lame reference to that congressman that said he knew porno when he saw it as opposed to art

[Tom Sawyer]

I know when I see an offensive plate.

I was trying a lame reference to that congressman that said he knew porno when he saw it as opposed to art

And if anyone knows porn it's a congressman!

[KBCraig]

I know when I see an offensive plate.

I was trying a lame reference to that congressman that said he knew porno when he saw it as opposed to art

And if anyone knows porn it's a congressman!

It was actually an associate justice of the Supreme Court, Potter Stewart. And in regard to the movie they were reviewing on an obscenity charge, he said, "I know it when I see it, and this is not it."

[Russell Kanning]

aha
I was close .... does that count?