'Perceived profanity' in woman's license plate leads to judge having to declare it's not profane
- A Delaware license plate was recalled for ‘perceived profanity’
- The owner of the plate took the case to court
- The judge went on to rule in her favor
Published on Apr 18, 2025 at 6:38 PM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Mar 27, 2025 at 2:12 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
A Delaware woman who was accused of having ‘perceived profanity’ on her vanity license plate won a legal case against the Delaware Department of Transportation.
The dispute arose after Kari Lynn Overington – a breast cancer survivor – applied for a vanity plate that read: ‘FCANCER’.
The license plate was recalled in 2021 because it contained ‘perceived profanity’.
However, Ovington argued against the decision and filed a lawsuit against the Delaware Department of Transportation.
DISCOVER SBX CARS – The global premium auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
The license plate was deemed to contain ‘perceived profanity’
Personalized – or vanity – license plates allow motorists to express themselves via their car’s plates and can sell for huge sums of cash.
In 2018, a personalized Rolls-Royce license plate sold for an eye-watering $616,836, while the world’s most expensive license cost the buyer a whopping $15 million.
However, over in Delaware, Kari Lynn Overington simply wanted to let the world know she had survived cancer.
She applied for an FCANCER plate for her car, but was left frustrated when it was later recalled due to ‘perceived profanity’, NBC reported.
In fact, she was so frustrated she decided to fight the decision and filed a lawsuit against the Delaware Department of Transportation (DOT).
In a deposition, Overington argued that the F meant ‘fight’ – as in, ‘fight cancer’ – but officials from the Division of Motor Vehicles suggested it meant ‘f***’ and pointed to Facebook posts where she was seen wearing a t-shirt that read ‘f*** cancer’.
The unusual case ended up before a judge
Laws in Delaware state that no vanity license plates can be issued if it is ‘considered to be obscene’ by DMV staff.
However, Judge Gregory Williams ruled in favor of Overington.
He rejected the argument from the DMV that the letters and numbers on vanity plates constitute ‘government speech’ and can therefore be regulated by officials.
The ruling meant that Overington was free to put the plates back on her car.
“I’m very grateful that I was able to have my voice heard. What they were doing was wrong,” Overington told The Associated Press.
Following the ruling in May of last year, DOT said it was suspending its vanity license plate program ‘indefinitely’ as it reviewed the court’s order.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.
