An image of a Utah vanity license plate recently surfaced on Twitter, and it has sent shockwaves through the community. Residents are up in arms, horrified that someone was permitted to drive around with such an offensive message. Picture this: You’re driving along, minding your own business, when suddenly, a license plate reading ‘DEPORTM’ catches your eye. You’d probably be just as flabbergasted as Matt Pacenza, a high school English teacher from Utah.
Pacenza saw the controversial plate and wasted no time in snapping a photo and sharing it on Twitter. He tagged the Utah Driver License Division and demanded answers: ‘Hey Utah Driver License Division, how does this plate I just saw not violate your guidelines?’ The response to his tweet was nothing short of explosive. Over a hundred people chimed in, calling the oversight ‘horrific’ and claiming that the DMV should never have approved the plate in the first place.
The uproar caught the attention of KSL, a CNN affiliate, who took the matter straight to the Utah Department of Motor Vehicles. After some back-and-forth, they got in touch with public information officer Tammy Kikuchi, who, to everyone’s surprise, confirmed that the plate was indeed real—and had been approved five years ago, in 2015. Talk about a blast from the past!
Now, you might be thinking, ‘How on Earth could this slip through the cracks?’ Well, it’s complicated. In the grand scheme of things, offensive speech can sometimes find refuge under the umbrella of the First Amendment. Unless the speech poses a threat or incites violence, it’s often protected by law. But here’s the catch: States do have some leeway when it comes to vanity plates. They can set guidelines to curb messages that might disrupt the public’s peace of mind.
According to the DMV’s rulebook, any letter or number combinations deemed ‘vulgar, derogatory, profane, or obscene and that express contempt, ridicule, or superiority of a race, religion, deity, ethnic heritage, gender, or political affiliation’ are off-limits. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? So, how did ‘DEPORTM’ get a free pass?
Following the uproar, Pacenza updated everyone the next day with a new tweet. The state Tax Commission had caught wind of the fiasco and launched an investigation, aiming to unearth who was behind the creation and approval of this controversial plate back in 2015.
Meanwhile, some Republicans accused the offender of using ‘State resources to promote divisiveness.’ State Senator Luz Escamilla echoed these sentiments, expressing her dismay that someone was driving around Utah with such a contentious message. She scheduled a review to discuss the issue at the Utah Legislature’s administrative rules review committee meeting that following Wednesday. The plot thickens!
Representatives from both the Tax Commission and the DMV were slated to attend the meeting to make it abundantly clear that they did not endorse this plate. The committee planned to dig into how Utah determines what’s offensive and who managed to push through such a contentious vanity plate in the first place.
KUTV decided to further investigate and asked the DMV for a list of rejected vanity plate names. They received a list of over a hundred, including gems like ‘SAUSAGE,’ ‘NSTYHOE,’ ‘W1NGMAN,’ and ‘PLAN B.’ One can only imagine the stories behind these rejected applications!
So, in the end, what does this story tell us? Well, folks, it’s a reminder that while we enjoy the freedom of expressing ourselves, there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed—especially when it comes to something as visible as a license plate. And as for Utah, it looks like they have some explaining to do. Stay tuned, because this story isn’t over yet!
