Ready for some juicy license plate controversy coming out of Tennessee?
Admittedly, it might not be as headline worthy of a story as Morgan Wallen throwing a chair off the top of Chief’s, but this proceeding still has enough meat on the bone to warrant a review. Basically, a woman in the “Volunteer State” sued the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue and the Tennessee Attorney General in Davidson County Chancery Court because they revoked her personalized license plate.
It read “69PWNDU.”
Now before we dive right into that (and trust me, we will), let’s look at some EXCITING legal jargon, shall we? It was only in 1998 when the state of Tennessee started offering specialty designs and personalized plates. Prior to that, residents registering their vehicle just got a license plate that read “TENN” paired with some sort of generated number of alphanumeric series.
As of right now, personalized license plates cost $35 a pop. And though residents reserve the right to pay that fee in order to get a custom license plate, that doesn’t always mean that they are accepted. As noted in the case of GILLIAM v. GERREGANO, the state of Tennessee reserves the right of refusal concerning “objectionable combinations,” and they lay out that “any license plate commemorating any practice which is contrary to the public policy of the state, or any combination of letters, numbers or positions that may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency or that are misleading” can be rejected.
The Tennessee’s Department of Revenue reviews plate submissions, and in the case that I linked above, they gave examples of some things they wouldn’t allow through their review process. And it’s quite the list that they came up with (these are pulled straight from the case):
-Profanity (e.g., “FUCOFF”)
-Violence (e.g., “MURDER”)
-Sexual activity (e.g., “ORGY”)
-Illegal substances (e.g., “KOCAINE”)
-Racial or ethnic groups (e.g., “NOJEWS”)
They really covered all of their bases there.
And thankfully, the case also included license plates that have been okayed by the Tennessee Department of Revenue. It seems like some of the ideas that probably should have been flagged slipped through the cracks with previously accepted personalized license plates reading “SHTUNOT,” “BUTNKD,” “694FUN,” “BIGSEXI,” “69BEAST,” and “69PONY.”
Another one that maybe pushed the envelope a bit? Leah Gilliam’s. When she applied for her personalized license plate back in 2010, she gave these three options (in order of “most wanting” to “would settle with”) in her application: 69PWNDU, PWNDU69, and IPWNDU. She clarified that “PWND” is a term that comes from the gaming world, meaning to be owned or dominated. As for the “69” part, she first said it was a part of her phone number, then later switched the story to being an “astronomy buff” and the number referencing the year of the moon landing.
The department initially saw no issue with her submission, so they went ahead and gave Leah Gilliam a plate that read “69PWNDU.” She displayed that license plate on her vehicle for 11 years, and the Tennessee Department of Revenue never once received a complaint. That is until May of 2021, when the Department of Revenue’s Director of Personnel was notified of the plate, which prompted a review process.
Ultimately, the organization decided to revoke the license plate because they realized it “referred to sexual domination.” They informed Gilliam that she would need to return the plate because it was deemed offensive and replace it with a different personalized option or just opt into a standard license plate.
Leah Gilliam wasn’t going down without a fight.
She requested an administrative hearing and then sued the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue and the Tennessee Attorney General in Davidson County Chancery Court. Her argument? Taking away her “69PWNDU” was discriminatory “based on viewpoint in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Gilliam also “challenged the Department’s summary revocation process under the federal Due Process Clause.” In her lawsuit, the Tennessee resident was looking for “injunctive and declaratory relief” in return, as well as some “nominal damages.”
Unfortunately, it appears that Gilliam has lost the good fight… at least for now. The Supreme Court of Tennessee recently shared their majority opinion – and conclusion – which cited that government-issued license plates fall underneath the category of government speech, thus “69PWNDU” cannot be on a Tennessee license plate:
“Under a faithful application of Walker and other applicable United States Supreme Court precedents, the alphanumeric combinations on Tennessee’s personalized license plates are government speech. The Court of Appeals erred by holding otherwise. We therefore reverse that decision and reinstate the trial court’s judgment in favor of the State.”
So for now, that’s the end of it. Gilliam can’t ride around town with “69PWNDU” on the back of her vehicle. It’s a real shame if you ask me. Though Gilliam could always decide to appeal her case, which means that it would have a chance of being seen by the United States Supreme Court. Could you imagine a Supreme Court justice having to read “69PWNDU” and dissect what it could mean?
Actually, I could… and now I want nothing more than for that to happen.
