弗吉尼亚州总检察长10月29日将请最高法院复审个性车牌案：涉「FTP&ATF」车牌吊销与言论自由之争
弗吉尼亚州林奇堡市消息：弗吉尼亚州总检察长 Jay Jones 将于10月29日向美国最高法院提交调卷申请，要求复审一起被吊销的个性车牌案件，总检察长办公室发言人 Rae Pickett 证实了这一安排；案件名为 Whateley v. Lackey。
案件源于林奇堡居民 Curtis Whateley 的诉讼：他的个性车牌写有「FTP&ATF」，法庭文件称这一缩写的含义涉及辱骂警察和美国酒精、烟草、火器和爆炸物管理局。车管局（DMV）个性车牌审查委员会2024年春季收到投诉后，以「most offensive」（最具冒犯性）为由吊销了这块车牌。Whateley 2025年5月在联邦地区法院败诉，法院裁定个性车牌属于政府言论。
美国第四巡回上诉法院7月31日推翻了这一裁定，法官 Pamela Harris 写道，弗吉尼亚州对个性车牌的批准权更符合在公共论坛中对私人表达的规制，而非政府以自身名义发言；案件发回后，琼斯办公室可选择在地区法院以其他理由重新辩论，或寻求最高法院复审。
来源：GSM·美国
Virginia Attorney General to Ask Supreme Court on Oct. 29 to Review Revoked Vanity Plate Case Over "FTP&ATF" Plate and Free Speech
LYNCHBURG, Virginia — Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones will file a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on October 29 asking it to review a revoked vanity plate case, his office's spokeswoman Rae Pickett confirmed; the case is Whateley v. Lackey.
The case stems from a lawsuit by Lynchburg resident Curtis Whateley, whose vanity plate read "FTP&ATF," an abbreviation court filings say stands for profanity directed at police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The DMV's special license plate review committee revoked the plate in spring 2024 after a complaint, calling the message "most offensive." Whateley lost in federal district court in May 2025, which ruled vanity plates are government speech.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned that ruling on July 31, with Judge Pamela Harris writing that Virginia's approval authority over vanity plates more closely resembles regulation of private expression in a public forum than the government speaking in its own name. After the case was remanded, Jones's office could either re-argue on other grounds in district court or seek Supreme Court review.
Source: GSM News
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
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