HONOLULU, Hawaii (KITV) — A Hawaii District Court judge has denied the requests for a temporary restraining order and a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by an Oahu man attempting to keep his vanity license plate that reads “FCKBLM.”
The saga over the offensive license plate has been ongoing for more than a year, after first being brought to the Department of Customer Service back in August 2021. The City and County of Honolulu admitted that the plates should never have been approved in the first place.
Since then officials have tried multiple avenues to recover the controversial license plates – first placing a hold on the vehicle owner’s registration and ordering the plates be surrendered.
Finally, in August 2022, the Honolulu City Council authorized city attorneys to file suit against the driver, Edward Oquina.
In September, Odquina filed a complaint, a motion for a temporary restraining order and a motion for a preliminary injunction against the city, claiming his first amendment rights were being violated.
In his ruling on Friday, District Judge Derrick K. Watson denied Odquina’s motions, saying that his free speech claim would likely not succeed for two reasons: one, because license plates are government speech and not subject to First amendment Review. And two, even if that were not the case, government rules concerning non-public forum speech on vanity plates are reasonable and viewpoint-neutral.
“Odquina, in short, does not have a constitutional right to a license plate containing profanity,” Watson wrote.
The court documents also shed light on how the offensive plates slipped through the cracks in the first place. The request was flagged by the city when Odquina first requested the plates. A department representative called Odquina asking what the plates meant, and Odquina told him it was for his business. The city green-lit the request, which they later admitted was done in error.
Then, once the plates were printed, a worker at the Hawaii Kai Satellite City Hall also noticed the expletive when Odquina went to pick up the plates. She called her supervisor who told her they shouldn’t be allowed, but told her to issue them anyway because Odquina was acting aggressive towards the city workers, and to avoid conflict, they said they would recall the plates later.
The plates even drew the attention of future HPD chief Joe Logan. Logan was patrolling near the Hawaii State Capitol and noticed Odquina’s car parked near a COVID-19 anti-mask protest. Logan asked Odquina how he got the F-word on a license plate since they’re not supposed to allowed. Odquina then admitted to Logan he lied to the city by saying it was an acronym for his business, but that he knew what it really meant.
The judge’s decision will allow the city to continue with its legal action against Odquina to get the plates back.
In the meantime, the car is not considered street legal because the plates are expired and recalled.
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