Brown v. Alabama Department of Transportation

In November 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama ruled on Brown v. Alabama Department of Transportation. Plaintiff Daniella Brown, a transgender woman, applied for personalized license plates reading "LGBTQ" or "LGB." The Alabama Department of Transportation denied her applications under a regulation prohibiting plates that "might be offensive to the public." Brown sued, claiming the denial constituted viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing the plates were government speech. On November 8, 2018, the court denied the defendants' motion, holding that the personalized plate program was a limited public forum and that Brown had plausibly alleged viewpoint discrimination. The case ultimately settled, leading Alabama to revise its rules.

On November 8, 2018, the district court denied the defendants' motion for summary judgment, finding that Brown had standing and had stated a valid claim for viewpoint discrimination. The court allowed the First Amendment challenge to proceed. The case later settled in 2019, with the state agreeing to amend its vanity plate regulations.

Whether the Alabama Department of Transportation's rejection of personalized license plates based on a subjective "offensiveness" standard violated the First Amendment by engaging in viewpoint discrimination in a limited public forum.

The case highlighted First Amendment limits on state speech regulations and the dangers of subjective content review by government officials. The settlement prompted Alabama to revise its personalized license plate program to eliminate vague offensiveness standards, reinforcing principles of viewpoint neutrality and protecting expressive diversity in government-created forums.