California License Plate Dataset Reveals a Battle Between Morality and Free Speech
2025-05-18
A dataset containing 23,463 personalized California license plate applications, many including vulgar and offensive language, has been released. These applications represent only a fraction of those received by the California DMV, specifically those flagged for review. The data includes the requested plate combination, review reason codes, applicant explanations, reviewer comments, and approval status. This release highlights the DMV's struggle to balance public morality with freedom of expression in approving license plates.