Restrictions On Personalized License Plates

The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles is asking a judge to reconsider an order so that it resumes the state's personalized license plate program. The agency said Monday it filed the request with a Marion County court a month after the judge ruled a police officer had the right to buy a license plate reading “0INK.” The judge said the BMV had no formal regulations in place for evaluating the content of vanity plates and ordered it to create standards that meet constitutional requirements within six months. BMV Commissioner Don Snemis says the judge's order would force the agency to issue personalized plates with offensive references to race, religion or sexual orientation. The lawsuit by Greenfield police Officer Rodney Vawter maintained the BMV's policy violated his freedom of speech rights.