Fort Worth man says his first amendment rights to free speech have been violated by the State of Texas who rvoked their approval for his vanity tag “JAIL 45.”
Jerry Balkenbush said the DMV originally approved his tag request and shipped them to him. He had them on his car and was pleased with how he was able to show his displeasure with the country’s current president.
Two weeks after the plates were shipped the DMV revoked them. And he was given 30 days to replace them. The DMV told Balkenbush the plates violate a Texas transportation code because they may be viewed as derogatory.
It turns out revoking license plates in Texas is a rare occurrence. Out of 44,000 personalized plate requests approved last year, only 19 were revoked.
At least another one of those revoked was also a dig at Trump. We found a story about Dallas car owner who’s tag “LOKHMUP” was revoked.
According to the Texas DMV code, a derogatory term is one that “is demeaning to, belittles, or disparages any person, group, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or refers to an organization that advocates such expressions.”
A DMV spokesperson told Dallas Fox 4 News that the female version “LOKHRUP” was also unavailable to use for the same reasons.
“Donald Trump screams ‘Lock her up!’ at every rally. I don’t understand how he can do that, but I can’t,” Moore told the Dallas Morning News.
Balkenbush said his new plate will simply read, “OBAMA.”