Kahn
Kahn v. Department of Motor Vehicles
Opinion
Opinion
Spencer, J.
Introduction
Petitioner Anita L. Kahn appeals from a judgment denying her petition for a writ of mandate by which she sought to compel respondent Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to return her personalized license plates.
Procedural and Factual Background
Petitioner is a certified court reporter employed by the Culver City Municipal Court. In approximately 1972, when petitioner received her shorthand reporting license and launched a new career in midlife, her nieces and nephews asked her to show them the court reporting shorthand symbols for the phrase, “if you can.” This phrase had great personal meaning to petitioner, in that her mother had adapted a song using the phrase from the story of “The Little Engine That Could.” Petitioner had used this phrase as a motivator throughout her life. Her nieces and nephews purchased a personalized license plate for petitioner which bore the court reporting symbols “TP U BG,” which can be translated as “if you can.” She used this license plate thereafter on a series of automobiles.
In 1989, Pamela Reed completed a “customer inquiry form” at the state fair in which she registered a complaint concerning the following license…