Plate Tectonics

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I’ll second this:

Your average car offers a blank rear canvas for personal expression of at least 5 square feet -- empty bumper space, body panels and so on. So why anyone feels the need to express himself in the exact same 6-inch by 12-inch rectangle that the state uses for license plate information has always been beyond me.

I really don’t have a problem with vanity plates but I’ve always thought the specialty plates to be excessive. And I’ll have to admit, I basically agree with the judge’s decision. It’s kind of hard to draw distinctions between what law-abiding organizations can and can’t have specialty plates.
So why are vanity plates OK with me but specialized plates not? Well, the license plate has to have letters and or numbers of some kind anyway, why not let people personalize them within reason? The specialty part of specialty plates, on the other hand, serve no function related to motor vehicle governance or law enforcement. They are a luxury that can just create problems like the one we are seeing now without enhancing in anyway the purpose of the license plate.

So count me as one who would just as soon see messages moved off the plates and back on to the bumper.