A Nevada resident saw his license plates of 20 years get recalled by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for defamation after someone filed a complaint. The plate reads “GOBK2CA” which stands for “Go Back To California,” according to KOLO TV.
Nevada state law prohibits license plates that make defamatory references to a person or a group of people, and it looks like, after two decades, someone picked up the phone and called the DMV to report the cryptic character combination.
“Some local law enforcement has pulled me over … to tell me they love my license plate,” Adam Steelmon said. “In 20 years I’ve had one person say: I don’t think your license plates are very appropriate.”
The Nevada driver who got the recall letter in his mailbox has appealed the DMV’s request to turn in his plates and a judge will decide whether he can keep them or not after he makes his case.
The DMV constantly reviews new customized license plate requests and many of them are denied, like the puzzling “GGGGGGG” and the very upfront “U 1D1OT,” but there are some combinations that ultimately got approved after being reviewed, like “DANK,” “RNECK,” and “BUCK UP,” according to 8 News Now.
However, even if a certain combination is whitelisted, the DMV can reassess it after it receives a complaint.
“All it takes is for one person to issue or file a complaint,” said Eli Rohl, Public Information Officer for the Nevada DMV in Carson City. “If it goes against the statute, we have a duty to execute on that and recall it.”
And here’s what the statute says one can’t put on a license plate:
“Can’t print numbers upside down, can’t do more than 7 numbers, you can’t express contempt, ridicule or superiority of race, ethnic heritage, or gender. Can’t have anything sexual, derogatory, or obscene. Can’t contain a direct or indirect reference to drugs, or drug paraphernalia, or a gang and it can’t make a defamatory reference to a person or a group,” said Rohl.
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