Posted on 05/20/2005 8:01:03 PM PDT by Pikamax
State says ‘JOHN3:16’ plate’s OK
STEVE MAYNARD; The News Tribune Last updated: May 18th, 2005 02:01 PM
Enlarge image BRUCE KELLMAN/THE NEWS TRIBUNE FILE University Place resident Jane Milhans gets to keep the JOHN3:16 vanity license plate she’s had on her cars since 1984. A complainant unsuccessfully urged the state to revoke the plate because of its religious meaning.
After a public outcry, University Place resident Jane Milhans will be able to keep her vanity license plate “JOHN3:16.” A Spanaway woman complained she was offended by the plate, prompting a state review. After callers in support of Milhans inundated radio talk shows and the Department of Licensing, a review committee expedited her case and dismissed the complaint Tuesday.
“They did?” Milhans said Tuesday. “Wow. That’s incredible. … I would have been devastated to lose this plate.”
The Department of Licensing’s review committee met early because of the intense public interest, said department spokesman Brad Benfield.
“The plate is not offensive under our rules and was never in danger of being canceled,” licensing director Liz Luce said in a statement. “This was just a routine, procedural review required by policy.”
However, Benfield said the licensing department has now changed its policy so that a single complaint no longer triggers an automatic review by a committee.
Milhans has had the vanity plate for 21 years.
Two weeks ago, Milhans was shocked to read in a letter the Department of Licensing was reviewing her plate because of a complaint. No one had ever complained before, she said.
“The Scripture actually references love,” Milhans said. “I thought that would be a positive message and brighten someone’s day.”
In her e-mail complaint to the licensing department, the Spanaway woman wrote, “I was offended that I have to be prayed over by a license plate.”
“What happened to keeping church and state separate?” said the woman, who refused to comment for this story. She requested her name not be used because the state mistakenly told her the complaint would be confidential, and then retracted that statement.
John 3:16, one of the most famous verses in the Bible, reads: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Milhans, 47, has the plate on her metallic blue BMW 525i. It’s her third car since 1984 to have a plate with “JOHN3:16.” Her seven-digit vanity plate originally read “JOHN316.” She painted on a blue colon to make the verse reference understandable.
Milhans works as a vice president for U.S. Bank in Tacoma and is the former Pierce County Republican Party chairwoman. She originally had until May 29 to respond to the complaint. Milhans said she was relieved by the decision, but disappointed she didn’t get to make her case.
A committee of a half-dozen people – from the Department of Licensing, the Washington State Patrol and a county auditor’s office – reviewed the complaint over the phone Tuesday.
They used guidelines barring vanity plates that are “offensive to good taste and decency,” “blasphemous,” “vulgar, profane or sexually suggestive in nature,” or “a racial, ethnic, lifestyle or gender slur.” The guidelines don’t mention religion. The issue of separation of church and state would be a matter for courts to decide, Benfield said.
In Vermont, Shawn Byrne of Rutland is suing the state after it rejected his bid for a “JOHN316” vanity plate. State attorneys say the plate would amount to a state endorsement of religion, The Associated Press reported.
Vanity plate owners in Washington pay an additional $30 a year to the Department of Licensing. The money goes to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the state Motor Vehicle Fund.
In the past year and a half, complaints prompted reviews of 16 vanity plates out of 84,454 in the state, Benfield said. Four containing at least one initial for a sexual term were canceled, he said.
Milhans said she believes freedom of speech gives her the right to express her Christian beliefs with her license plate. After news of the complaint became fodder for radio talk shows, dozens of people phoned, e-mailed and stopped her in stores and on the street to say they’re on her side. Hundreds of people called the licensing department in support of Milhans, Benfield said.
“I’m not offending people now,” Milhans said. “I’m really happy about that.”
FIVE PLATES THAT COULDN’T BE KILLED
Here are some other vanity license plates that the Department of Licensing permitted to remain after complaints:
UDORK: A complainant said it was rude.
BCHRWFE: Someone complained it was about spousal abuse. The plate turned out to belong to a butcher’s wife.
AMXTC: Someone thought it was a reference to the drug Ecstasy. The plate referred to the joy of owning a classic car called an AMX.
STROKIN: A complainant thought the message was sexual, but the plate referred to a Ford Power Stroke diesel truck.
SEXTY7: Someone thought the plate was racy, but it was allowed because it was used on a classic 1967 car.
Two pieces of advice for this woman:
Somebody actually took the time to complain about this? This person really should get a life!
I once saw a "WARLOCK" (no kidding) plate in Illinois.
ONE person complaining equals a full scale review? I'm sure that it would be possible to find one person offended by just about any and every vanity tag.
Talk about empowering the malcontents!
What a doofus. This woman apparently has never read the U.S. Constitution.
You'd rather be prayed AGAINST?
So an automobile is now a church?
However, Benfield said the licensing department has now changed its policy so that a single complaint no longer triggers an automatic review by a committee.
Oh, could it be that there is someone in the DMV that has some common sense.
Well, if I were that selfish and stupid, I wouldn't want my name publicized, either.
Look what happened to that woman who sued the neighborhood girls for giving her cookies. Her name was publicized, and she received shipments of cookie crumbs from all over the country.
Although I have never heard a complaint about my "PROV356" plate in my stste, I DID receive a ticket for "altered registration" issued by a state police officer for the : and - I added with a paint brush to clarify the reference as PROV3:5-6
"A Spanaway woman complained she was offended by the plate, prompting a state review."
I'm offended that she was offended. So I'd like to call for a full scale review of her citizenship.
...and I'd also request she write a check covering all agency costs.
"A Spanaway woman complained she was offended by the plate, prompting a state review."
I'm offended that she was offended. So I'd like to call for a full scale review of her citizenship.
...and I'd also request she write a check covering all agency costs.
If "John 3:16" was on ALL Vermont license plates it might be a state endorsement..
Vanity plates are an Individual Statement of which the state has no part..
"A Spanaway woman complained she was offended by the plate, prompting a state review."
This is the liberal's interpretation of the law: They think they have the right to have anything that offends them removed from existence. But don't ask them to apply that to others.
Did they by chance buy dictionaries that omitted the definitions of the words tolerance and diversity? They just love to throw those words around, but have no idea what they mean.
Driving up here in looneyville, I see bumper stickers every DAY that tick me off. Do I have the right to demand their removal? After all, I'm looking at it and disagree with it. Yes, I know they are not government property, but you can see my point (because if you are reading this you're likely conservative, which means you have blood flow above the neck).
You are right - she really needs a life. I would have to bet she didn't even know what John 3:16 said - just another knee-jerk leftist practicing resistance to good in the world.
Years ago, Virginia tried to take away a man's plate that read, GOVT SUX. He fought it in court and won. The complaint had come from Loudon County Personal Property Tax employees because he came in to pay his PPT with bags of change and they wanted to get even.
I could not care less about the message on her plate, but the "bah-Bull" thumpers empowered these days sure do bother me.
Remind me of the Koran thumpers.
Different book; same control freak mentality.
You should see all of the "Choose Life" plates here in Florida. Pretty much without exception, they are about the rudest individual on the road. Self-righteousness tends to out itself.
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