NICHOLS V. DOT

Case Name: Nichols v. Thompson

Type of Case: Limited Government Project

Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

Case Number: 3:24-cv-00566

Filed On: August 12, 2024

Current Status: Appealed to the Seventh Circuit.

Wisconsin law grants DOT officials authority to deny personalized plates they deem to carry connotations offensive to good taste or decency. That provision allows content-based speech restrictions on vehicle owners, applied inconsistently as Mr. Nichols’ experience demonstrates.

Meet the Client

Mike Nichols collects automobiles and uses personalized license plates for self-expression. In 2001 he obtained a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6 with the custom plate RD RRAGE, which he kept until returning the vehicle through a lemon law buyback in 2003.

Background

WILL seeks a court declaration that the statutory language is facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment, arguing that government bureaucrats lack authority to determine which messages citizens may display on their vehicles.

Lawyers

Lucas Vebber, Deputy Counsel

CASE DOCUMENTS

• Complaint, August 2024