RENO, Nev. — A Nevada man is challenging the revocation of his license plate, which the state says defames Californians.
Adam Steelmon, of Fallon, said he has had the plate GOBK2CA for more than 20 years. In May, it was recalled by the Department of Motor Vehicles because of a complaint, Reno TV station KOLO reported.
A section of the Nevada Administrative Code bars license plates from bearing defamatory references to a person or group.
“In this case, the defamed group is Californians,” DMV spokesperson Eli Rohl told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He said that the department “regularly” turns down requests for license plates with anti-California messages, and that it would not be fair to allow Steelmon to keep his.
Steelmon is appealing the recall and will have a hearing on July 12, KOLO said.
A Hawaii man’s fight to keep a plate interpreted as a vulgar attack on the Black Lives Matter movement made it to a federal appeals court, which last month denied his challenge.
Nevada regulations concerning what it calls “personalized prestige license plates” say a combination of letters and numbers will be disallowed if it:
- Creates confusion with any combination on other license plates.
- Expresses contempt, ridicule or superiority of race, ethnic heritage, religion or gender.
- Contains any connotation that is sexual, vulgar, derogatory, profane or obscene.
- Contains a direct or indirect reference to a drug or drug paraphernalia, or to a gang.
- Makes a defamatory reference to a person or group.
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