A retired NYPD sergeant whose anti-bin Laden vanity license plates were yanked by the Department of Motor Vehicles earlier this month is filing a federal lawsuit today – charging that the agency’s actions were unconstitutional, The Post has learned.
Arno Herwerth’s “GETOSAMA” plates were rescinded on the grounds that they were “offensive” and violated a DMV regulation.
But, he asks, offensive to whom?
“I’m ready to change our state government’s attitude towards Osama bin Laden, and I welcome my day in court,” Herwerth said.
“It’s not the type of speech that would offend anybody,” said Herwerth’s lawyer Vincent Amicizia. “And it’s hard to imagine who the heck this would be offensive to. That’s what’s so mind-blowing.”
The suit, which will be filed in Central Islip today, charges the DMV violated Herwerth’s 1st, 5th, and 14th Amendment rights.
The DMV canceled the plates after Herwerth had already received them in the mail.
The agency claims the patriotic statement violates a regulation that bans any tag that is “obscene, lewd, lascivious, derogatory to a particular ethnic or other group or is patently offensive.”
Officials declined yesterday to specify what part of that regulation the phrase “GETOSAMA” violates, noting only that “the configuration of lettering doesn’t meet regulatory standards and issuing the plate would be inappropriate.”