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In
April 2008, The Orange County Register published a bombshell of an
investigation about a license plate program for California government
workers and their families. Drivers of nearly 1 million cars and light
trucks—out of a total 22 million vehicles registered statewide—were
protected by a “shield” in the state records system between their
license plate numbers and their home addresses. There were, the
newspaper found, great practical benefits to this secrecy.
“Vehicles with protected
license plates can run through dozens of intersections controlled by
red light cameras with impunity,” the Register’s Jennifer Muir
reported. “Parking citations issued to vehicles with protected plates
are often dismissed because the process necessary to pierce the shield
is too cumbersome. Some patrol officers let drivers with protected
plates off with a warning because the plates signal that drivers are
‘one of their own’ or related to someone who is.”
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