Attorney General Jay Jones will ask the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to review a federal appeals court ruling that a revoked Virginia vanity license plate is protected free speech, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
Rae Pickett, a spokesperson for Jones, confirmed the office will file a cert petition on Oct. 29 in Whateley v. Lackey.
The case began when Lynchburg resident Curtis Whateley sued after the Department of Motor Vehicles revoked a vanity plate that read “FTP&ATF.” Court filings describe the acronym as meaning “f— the police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.”
The DMV’s Personalized License Plate Review Board revoked the plate in spring 2024 after a complaint that the message was “most offensive.” Officials said it could be perceived as profane or as condoning or encouraging violence.
Whateley lost in U.S. District Court in May 2025. The court ruled vanity plates are government speech and not protected by the First Amendment.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated that ruling on July 31. Judge Pamela Harris wrote that Virginia’s approval authority over vanity plates “is more consistent with the regulation of private expression in a public forum than it is with the government speaking on its own behalf.”
The appeals court remanded the case. Jones’ office can still reargue it in district court on other grounds, or pursue Supreme Court review.
Pickett did not answer questions about how many staff hours or public resources had been spent on the case.
