September 8, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma filed a request for an administrative hearing to contest the Oklahoma Tax Commission’s denial of a personalized license plate reading “COMMIE” to an Oklahoma taxpayer.

The Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) of the Oklahoma Tax Commission denied ACLU of Oklahoma Client Zakk Luttrell’s request claiming that the license plate violated subparts 2 and 6 of the Non-offensive content policy, which require that a vanity plate not include “contempt, ridicule, or superiority based on race, gender, politics, ethnic heritage, or religion,” and “isn’t otherwise appropriate for a state-issued plate,” respectively.

While the MVD denied Mr. Luttrell’s plate, it has approved numerous other plates with other political messages, gender, ethnic, and religious statements, and partisan party identifications.

“I fail to see how my plate violates the subparts in question unless these regulations are being interpreted and applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner,” said Luttrell. “This overbroad and vague policy that approves some license plates and denies others with no clear guidelines runs contrary to my reading of the First Amendment. I hope the Tax Commission will reconsider my request to express myself freely.”

The ACLU of Oklahoma filed a request for an administrative hearing to argue that the policy in question is being applied selectively and therefore constitute viewpoint discrimination. It may also violate the plain language of Oklahoma law, which explicitly requires the MVD to allow whatever combination of numbers and letters a person selects, so long as he or she goes through the appropriate procedure and the selection is not already taken.

“This vague policy and its inconsistent enforcement creates viewpoint based discrimination,” said Brady Henderson, ACLU of Oklahoma Legal Director. “In the absence of clear and fair guidelines, the Motor Vehicle Division has selectively and arbitrarily applied their own political preferences in a way that violates Oklahoma’s personalized license plate statute, the Oklahoma Constitution, and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

This is not the first time this type of MVD discrimination has come under fire. The Department’s denial of the personalized license plate “IMGAY” was overturned recently when it was discovered that the MVD had approved other license plates expressing sexual orientation, so long as it was heterosexual, while declaring any same-sex message to be “offensive.”

By requesting a formal hearing, the ACLU of Oklahoma and its client aim to present these arguments in detail and seek a reversal of the Tax Commission’s decision to deny Mr. Luttrell’s request. The Tax Commission must honor the tenets of free speech codified in the Oklahoma and United States Constitutions and allow Mr. Luttrell the opportunity to freely and fully express himself just like any other Oklahoman.

A copy of the ACLU’s Request for Hearing is attached here.