‘Personalized license plates aren’t just for UK fans.’ Judge rules on Ky. ‘IM GOD’ plate

A Kenton County man won a three-year court battle Wednesday to display “IM GOD” on his Kentucky license plate.

A U.S. District Court judge said the commonwealth “went too far” in denying the vanity plate to Bennie Hart in 2016. Hart, an atheist, previously had the same personalized license plate in Hamilton County, Ohio, for 12 years before moving to Independence in Kenton County.

The message he chose for his Kentucky plate was called “obscene or vulgar” by Kentucky Division of Motor Vehicle Licensing officials. “IM GOD” was later rejected by the state because it was “not in good taste and would create the potential of distraction to other drivers and possibly confrontations.”

The federal court ruled that vanity plates are private speech protected by the First Amendment, thus allowing Hart to display the plate.

“The commonwealth does not allow drivers to say anything they want with a license plate message,” federal Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove said in an opinion issued Wednesday. “That’s fine, but the First Amendment also imposes limits on the commonwealth.”

State law prohibits plates discriminating against any religion or promoting any specific faith, religion or anti-religion. But in denying Hart’s plate, Transportation Cabinet employees relied solely “on their own common sense of what would be religious or anti-religious or not,” the judge said.

Other “God” plates such as “GODLVS”, “TRYGOD”, “1GOD”, and “NOGOD” have been approved, according to court documents.

The judge made it clear in his opinion that in a state full of University of Kentucky-themed vanity plates, “GOD” plates can also exist.

“Personalized license plates aren’t just for UK fans,” Tatenhove wrote.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Freedom From Religion Foundation filed the lawsuit on Hart’s behalf.

“Today’s ruling makes clear that Mr. Hart’s personalized plate request was denied based on reasons that violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. In light of the court’s ruling, we expect the Transportation Cabinet’s license plate review process will respect the First Amendment moving forward,” Corey Shapiro, ACLU of Kentucky legal director, said.

This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 7:58 AM.