Las Vegas man won a courtroom battle Wednesday with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles over his “HOE” license plate, which the agency tried to cancel on grounds that he was using a slang reference to prostitutes.
The high court said the DMV based its opposition to William Junge’s plate on definitions found in the Web-based Urban Dictionary, which includes user contributions. Justices ruled that the contributed definitions “do not always reflect generally accepted definitions for words.”
Junge, whose case was pursued by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said he got the “HOE” plate in 1999 for his Chevy Tahoe, after being told “TAHOE” wasn’t available.
“It’s nonsense,” Junge said of the state agency’s efforts to pull his plates. The 62-year-old said he was referring to his vehicle’s model and not to prostitutes with his plates, adding: “That was their interpretation. Shame on them.”
The high court said the DMV based its opposition to William Junge’s plate on definitions found in the Web-based Urban Dictionary, which includes user contributions. Justices ruled that the contributed definitions “do not always reflect generally accepted definitions for words.”
Junge, whose case was pursued by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said he got the “HOE” plate in 1999 for his Chevy Tahoe, after being told “TAHOE” wasn’t available.
“It’s nonsense,” Junge said of the state agency’s efforts to pull his plates. The 62-year-old said he was referring to his vehicle’s model and not to prostitutes with his plates, adding: “That was their interpretation. Shame on them.”
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