It's not exactly a lie. The law in TX as I understand it is you cannot obstruct any of the letters on the plate, even if only minimally. That is why the Honda dealership I bought my car at took back their dealer advertisement license plate frame when they swapped out my temp plate for my permanent plate. Believe me, if it were a hoax, they'd have kept their ad on the back of my car.
Is this law ever enforced? Not really. Just look at all the illegally dark tinted windows on the road. But if you think that means no one ever gets tickets for that... then go right ahead.
I myself
would put a license plate frame on my car. But if I ever get a ticket for it, I'm going to be tempted to bring a First Amendment suit not unlike the following case:
In
1977, the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of
Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, that New Hampshire could not prosecute motorists who chose to hide part or all of the slogan on license plates. George Maynard, a
Jehovah's Witness, cut off "or die" from his plate for religious reasons, and was convicted of breaking the state law that required the motto. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in his favor, saying the law required people to "use their private property as a 'mobile billboard' for the State's ideological message," and that the state's interest did not outweigh free speech principles.
The case drew widespread attention, partly because of the irony involved with a government denying somebody the freedom to change a slogan that celebrates freedom.
Come to think of it, if anyone in Texas ever gets one of these tickets, let me know. This case isn't exactly dead on-point, but the Texas law is just stupid because most frames barely cover up the "Texas" on the plate. It remains legible. And I'll argue if the state doesn't like it, they should redesign their effen' plates to be more compatible with license plate frames rather than preventing their use all together.