Man told he must get rid of "ATHEIST" license plate

Ananova ^

[JediGirl]

A US man must get rid of his number plate because it reads, "ATHEIST."

Steven Miles says his right of self expression is being trampled on.

But the state of Florida has declared the number plate "obscene or objectionable." It is refusing to re-issue it after receiving 10 complaints.

Mr Miles, 55, from Gainesville, Florida, has had the licence plate for 16 years. He is vice president of the group, Atheists of Florida.

But he has now been told by the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, that the personalised plate is on the department's blacklist, along with swear words and slang words describing certain body parts.

Mr Miles said: "It's kind of disconcerting to know that the United States is based on freedom of expression, yet in actuality, it's quite restrictive."

Others have reacted strongly to the plate since Mr Miles first screwed it to his Isuzu in 1986, reports the St Petersburg Times.

"I had a wrench thrown at me in Jacksonville about 10 years ago. It went right over the hood," he said. Another time, "someone surreptitiously tore up my tag and threw it in the bushes. I put a frame and a plastic cover on it after that."

He intends to fight the banning order with the backing of the US Civil Liberties Union.

Story filed: 22:11 Thursday 14th March 2002

[cactmh]

I'm not a Christian, but I don't believe in Atheists either.

[cactmh]

It is a peaceful religion. Comparing the vandalism of a licsense plate to the murder of innocent women in children is simply foolish.

[riley1992]

ROTFL. You will never know how bad you actually got me with that.

[riley1992]

If your religious beliefs (or more applicable to this situation, your openly declared lack of religious beliefs) will end up raising the costs of a business, it is completely appropriate for them to charge you more than other people.

They should be able to show proof of this first then. In other words, it is concretely documented that certain cars are more prone to theft, therefore, the premium on them is going to be higher. The insurance company would be making a baseless assumption based on what for raising the premium for the Atheist plate?

[Pappy Smear]

Yeah, I imagine Florida would ban a JESUS IS LOVE license plate cause it has more than eight letters.

Iowa did not ban my AUH2O64 plate tho.

[baxter999]

Actually, the constitution does not grant any rights. It enumerates a few rights but the source of these rights is God according to the Declaration of Independence.

I don't think that there is an easy pat answer to this license plate thing. Would a license plate that says "Jew-hater", "God H8s fags" or some other non-profane but objectionable phrase also be acceptable? And just because some people are offended, does that mean that a certain plate should be banned? I think some would be offended no matter what was on the plate.

Then there is always the legal argument that license plates are created and controlled by the government and they can do what they want. For example, most states limit the number of letters on a plate as well as words that might be construed to be official - like NYPD, etc.

I can see both sides of this argument and I'm having a tough time deciding what is "right".

Maybe I just don't get why it matters either way.

[Bob J]

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[timm22]

They should be able to show proof of this first then. In other words, it is concretely documented that certain cars are more prone to theft, therefore, the premium on them is going to be higher.

Or what about this- if you don't like the insurance company's policies, you take your business elsewhere? Why don't we just let the company decide what it wants to do and how it wants to do it?

[Khepera]

You may be on to something. Keep working on it.

[diefree]

I don't get why people get offended by atheists. If a person can't believe in God, then they can't.

At the same time, I think it's silly for people to go around declaring themselves to complete strangers, whether it's their religion or their homesexuality. It seems that they are just looking for trouble so they can say "See, these religious people are mean."

[lump in the melting pot]

A little while back there was an uproar about a Muslim woman who wanted to keep her face covered on her FL driver's license photo. The consensus of the ~500 comments was that for the purpose of maintaining a civil society, public roads, the cars that drive over them and the drivers of those cars are subject to certain rules which are a bit more restrictive than the Bill of Rights, alone. Just as the purpose of a driver's license is to simply identify the driver, not pander to their religious beliefs, the purpose of a license tag is to identify the vehicle, not to be a personal billboard. That's what bumpers are for ("Keep honking, I'm reloading" and other such witticisms). I know of a guy who got a Florida commemorative space shuttle Challenger tag that said "KA-BOOM". Now, was the DMV right or wrong in taking it away from him? As far as I know, the US is the only country where drivers have any opportunity to customize their car tags. IMO, it's a privilege, not a right, and privileges can be revoked, even if the reasons are trite. If they were forcing this man to peel certain stickers off his bumper, it would be more of a free-speech issue, but since the DMV has ultimate authority over licensing cars (to which authority we explicitly submit when we drive on public roads), it's more of a case of (overzealous, to be sure) bureaucrats who are nevertheless well within their purview.

In summary, should a person be able to customize their tag? Yes. Is it a big deal if the DMV says "no"? To Steven Miles, yes, to the rest of us, maybe not. If I were him, I'd try sneaking in "HERETIC", "GALILEO", "GAGGED",... The possibilities are vast.

Just my $0.02...

[Osage Orange]

I wonder if I can have "THERAPIST" on my license plate?

[oldvike]

Jedigirl is right. As despicable as this man's license plate is, he still has the right to put it on his car.

[diefree]

There is something about British license plates. The plates are sold in the classified ads. To me, they don't look like anything special but apparently they are as they go for high prices.

I know that in France, the cars come with license plates attached.

[waterstraat]

I am a christian, but I see nothing wrong with his plate in america. I also used to know a woman in Massachusetts, Patricia, whose plate said: Lucifer

[lump in the melting pot]

Nope, too long (7 characters max). How 'bout "THERAPY"?

[riley1992]

Normally that is exactly what I would say, too. This time I am not because it would be infringing on free speech with no claim to back it up.

[MissAmericanPie]

PC run amok again.

[CharacterCounts]

A private company should be able to charge whatever it wants to anyone it wants for any reason it wants.

I have always found it ironic that the same federal government that the Bill of Rights was intended to restrict follows the Constitution less and less while it forces the Constituion on individuals and companies (both of whom were never intended to be covered).

[Bella_Bru]

You'd be having a fit if the plate was one that said "Godlover" and had to be removed. It's the same thing.