The Oregon Supreme Court rejected ACLU’s challenge to Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) censorship of vanity license plates.  While the decision held that Oregon’s vanity plate rules do not violate free speech protections, we hope the decision will not open the door to censorship schemes by other Oregon agencies.

"The decision was a disappointment to those of us who care about free speech," Oregon ACLU Executive Director David Fidanque said upon seeing the decision. "We believe it’s always dangerous to allow government officials to decide whose speech and which messages are appropriate."

The case began when Michael Higgins applied in 1996 to the DMV for custom license plates "VINO", "INVINO", and "WINE".  His requests were denied. Higgins requested a hearing, but an administrative law judge upheld the DMV’s action. ACLU cooperating attorney Ed Spinney challenged the DMV’s administrative ruling before the Oregon Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals ruled against us, upholding the administrative decision.

We appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court which held oral argument at the University of Oregon Law School on March 14, 2002. We maintained that the regulation violated Article I, Section 8 of the Oregon Constitution and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Oregon Constitution prohibits the state from passing laws directed at "the substance of an opinion or subject of communication" except in very limited circumstances that were recognized before the Oregon Constitution was adopted. The First Amendment allows reasonable time, place and manner restrictions may be placed on speech but those restrictions may not be based upon the content of the speech. The Oregon Supreme Court’s decision, written by Justice Robert Durham, appears to only apply to the DMV’s vanity license plate censorship scheme.

Student Wins Settlement over School Expulsion

Oregon ACLU cooperating attorneys David Allen and Val Fanning Aitchison worked on the administrative challenge to the DMV rules. Ed Spinney wrote the briefs and argued the case in the appellate courts.

The ACLU in Oregon brokered a settlement to a lawsuit we filed federal court in December 2002 to protect the free speech rights of a (then) 13 year old who was expelled from school for the content of his personal website.

Carlson Muss created his website without use of school facilities or time, and the lawsuit argued that the content of his speech did not constitute a "true threat", did not "substantially disrupt" the school environment, and was not subject to action by the school.

In a victory for free speech and students’ rights, Muss accepted a $20,000 settlement from the Beaverton School District. The settlement will help pay tuition at the private school he has attended since he was expelled.

Brian Posewitz, of Tonkon Torp LLP, represented Muss and his mother on behalf of the ACLU Foundation of Oregon.