Maine begins its removal of obscene vanity license plates

The state of Maine is starting its process of removing the vulgarities and obscenities from license plates. The Associated Press reports that Maine began issuing recall letters to folks with newly unapproved license plates this month. Reportedly, a handful of letters are going out each day, and Maine says the whole process of letter sending will take a couple of months.

This latest step comes about a year after Maine declared its intentions to rid itself of the profane license plates. The state got itself into this predicament back in 2015 when it essentially eliminated the review process for vanity plates. Secretary of State Shanna Bellows is leading the process of removing these plates from the road. Bellows is a staunch supporter of freedom of speech and a former director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, but even she says these plates are a step too far.

“What I would say to those who want to engage in objectionable or questionable speech: Get a bumper sticker,” Bellows said.