BMV lawsuit sparks plate controversy

Rodney Vawter’s car never really hurt anyone.

It would receive a few dirty looks here and there, but no complaints were ever filed against it.

Most often, people would laugh and give Vawter a thumbs up when he drove it. They’d be pointing at his plates.

Last April, the Greenfield, Ind., police officer came home to a letter from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Emblazoned with the Fraternity of the Police tag, his license plate read “0INK,” and was being revoked.

The BMV had allowed the car to drive around Indiana for three years, but it now deemed the plate offensive and misleading.

“The BMV giveth, the BMV taketh away,” Vawter said.

He wasn’t going to let the BMV force the oink-mobile off the road.

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Vawter tried to reason with the BMV. He wrote a letter to appeal the revocation, but it was sent back to him.

He tried calling people, but he ended up getting voicemail. The people he did talk to didn’t know much about protocol in this kind of situation.

A friend suggested he pursue a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Hesitant at first, Vawter and his lawyer soon found out there were many inconsistencies with the BMV’s personal license plate program.

It approved “BIGGSXY” but not “SXY,” “BIBLE4ME” but not “BIBLEH8R” and “FOX NEWS” but not “FOX*LIES.”

The BMV claimed it was unable to explain the inconsistencies in court. A First Amendment issue was at stake.

“It just depends on what mood they’re in and what day of the week it is,” Vawter said. “You don’t hear the same thing twice.”

The “offensive” standard was meant for vulgar and derogatory comments.

Vawter’s court statement said he considered his plate “an ironic statement of pride in his profession.”

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A police officer for more than 10 years, Vawter said he’s been called a “fucking pig” to his face at least 300 times.

It’s something he’s accepted.

Vawter is a criminal investigator. He said he likes his work because it’s exciting.

He said he also likes the physical evidence side of his job because it doesn’t lie to you.

He remembers working on one case — a homicide — for almost two months. He worked on the case up until Christmas morning, he said.

In a way, he associates his passion for justice with the license plate court case.
It’s about fairness, Vawter said.

“When I go out and do my job, I can’t violate people’s civil rights,” he said. “That’d be like me going over to a car and stopping it just because I wanted to.”

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On May 8, Marion Superior Court Judge James Osborn found the standards the BMV used violated the First Amendment and Indiana law, and he ordered they cease being used.

Vawter said he is happy without monetary compensation. He said he requested his attorney fees be paid, but that was it.

“It’s about getting the BMV to set standards and follow rules,” Vawter said.

The oink-mobile drives on for now.

“I have a personalized license plate on my truck with my last name on it,” Vawter said. “I’m sure someone finds that offensive, too.”