TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

State Supreme Court Rejects Reinstatement of 'Offensive' Vanity Plate

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Feb 26, 2025

The Tennessee Supreme Court issued an opinion today rejecting a First Amendment challenge to the state’s personalized license plate program. Tennessee license plates typically feature a randomly generated alphanumeric combination, but drivers can request personalized plates for an additional fee. Leah Gilliam had displayed a personalized plate reading “69PWNDU” for over a decade before the state revoked it, deeming the message to be offensive. Gilliam sued, arguing that the program unlawfully discriminates based on viewpoint in violation of the First Amendment. The court ruled that personalized plate messages constitute government speech rather than private speech and therefore are not protected under the First Amendment. The decision relied on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Walker v. Texas, which found that specialty license plates represent government speech. Read more in a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

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