Looks like this issue has not gone away, as the federate flag license plate battle reaches the U.S. Supreme Court. On Monday the issue will go up for review in front of the Supreme Court over Texas rejecting a specialty license plate displaying the Confederate flag. Read more inside.
According to reports, the nine justices will hear an hour argument and the state has the ability to outlaw suggestive or divisive messages on license plates that may offend others, without violating free speech rights of others. In addition to the free speech act its worried about violating, the sate makes a pretty nice chunk of revenue from the specialty license plates and the extra fees that come along with the licenses.
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MSN reports….
“When Texas rejected the proposal in 2010, the state said it had received public comments that suggested “many members of the general public find the design offensive” in large part due to the Confederacy being synonymous with the institution of slavery.
A black Texas Democratic state senator, Royce West, said in 2011, “Ill-intended or not, why would African Americans want to be reminded of a legalized system of involuntary servitude, dehumanization, rape and mass murder?”
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas officials did not have grounds to reject the plate, prompting the state to seek high court review.
The legal issue is in part whether messages on state-issued license plates represent speech by the government or an endorsement of a private message. If determined to be private speech, the state’s rejection could violate the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment free speech guarantee.
Steven Shapiro, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which backs the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said although the flag “served as a banner for those who supported slavery and segregation … Texas cannot pick and choose the plates it approves on ideological grounds.”
A ruling is expected by the end of June.”
Should people be free to choose what they display on their license plate, or should the government have the right to decide?
