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N.H. Supreme Court Allows 'COPSLIE' License Plate

A New Hampshire man is allowed to have a license plate reading "COPSLIE" after the state Supreme Court ruled in his favor.
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New Hampshire's Supreme Court has unanimously agreed if one man thinks police lie, he should be allowed to let the world know via his license plate.

David Montenegro, who legally changed his name to "human," wanted his plate to read "COPSLIE." But according to The Boston Globe, the state DMV wouldn't allow it, citing a regulation that the Supreme Court has now deemed "unconstitutionally vague" and, therefore, a violation of free speech.

According to court documents, in May 2010 the DMV told "human" he couldn't put the phrase on his vanity plate because "a reasonable person might find it offensive to good taste."

But "human" says he had a reason for wanting the phrase on the back of his Chevy Caprice — to fight what he calls government corruption.

CBS points out he had been arrested twice in the past and told reporters he thought it would be "the perfect situational irony" if a police officer had to pull him over and type "COPSLIE" into their system.

"If I could condense all of the problems that I've seen in New Hampshire government down to a single sound bite small enough to fit on a license plate, 'COPSLIE' would be it." ​(Via WBZ-TV)

A lower court originally upheld the DMV's decision not to give "human" the license plate, but the Supreme Court ruling overturned it. "Human" has yet to respond to reporters for comment.