Virginia Attorney General to Ask Supreme Court on Oct. 29 to Review Revoked Vanity Plate Case Over "FTP&ATF" Plate and Free Speech
LYNCHBURG, Virginia — Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones will file a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on October 29 asking it to review a revoked vanity plate case, his office's spokeswoman Rae Pickett confirmed; the case is Whateley v. Lackey.
The case stems from a lawsuit by Lynchburg resident Curtis Whateley, whose vanity plate read "FTP&ATF," an abbreviation court filings say stands for profanity directed at police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The DMV's special license plate review committee revoked the plate in spring 2024 after a complaint, calling the message "most offensive." Whateley lost in federal district court in May 2025, which ruled vanity plates are government speech.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned that ruling on July 31, with Judge Pamela Harris writing that Virginia's approval authority over vanity plates more closely resembles regulation of private expression in a public forum than the government speaking in its own name. After the case was remanded, Jones's office could either re-argue on other grounds in district court or seek Supreme Court review.
Source: GSM News
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Wikimedia Commons 共享资源图片（CmdrDan 摄，授权：cc by-sa 4.0）。Image via Wikimedia Commons (by CmdrDan, license: cc by-sa 4.0).
