Md.’s highest court to decide case of vanity license plate with profanity

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Maryland Court of Appeals is considering whether the state’s Motor Vehicle Administration acted unconstitutionally in recalling vanity license plates sporting a Spanish scatological word.

In 2009, John T. Mitchell of Accokeek, Maryland, requested and received vanity license plates from the Maryland MVA that read “MIERDA,” a Spanish term that translates to “s–t” or “junk.”

It was not until December 2011 that he received a letter from the Motor Vehicle Administration stating that his plates were issued in error and asking that Mitchell return them.

“I thought it was a possibility I might get a letter explaining why they wouldn’t issue it, but I got the tag in the mail, no issues with it,” Mitchell said.

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