In the US, states use several resources when evaluating requests for personalized license plates. In Georgia, for example, the prisoners who manufacture license plates also are responsible for identifying gang references or offensive words. In Maryland, a computer system uses an algorithm to check for objectionable words or phrases. In Virginia and Washington, specially-trained workers review personalized license plate requests that have been flagged as possibly including inappropriate language.
More about license plates:
- Using prison labor to make license plates is common in the US. For example, in California, Folsom State Prison's prisoners have been making license plates since the 1930s.
- In some places, citizens have been able to complain about inappropriate license plates even after they have been issued. The motor vehicle agencies in such states often have the ability to recall the plates.
- Some sly purchasers of vanity license plates request what appear to be innocent plates but that reveal inappropriate words when seen upside-down.