Up for consideration to SCOTUS; vanity license plates.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32023016
A licence plate displaying the Confederate Flag has sparked a US Supreme Court battle over the right to free speech.....
.....
The Sons of Confederate Veterans, sponsors of the controversial plate - went to the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, where they successfully argued that to reject their design was to restrict their right to free speech - protected by the First Amendment.
The case now stands before the nine Supreme Court justices - who must consider how the rights of constitution apply within these 12-by-6in (30-by-15cm) metal plates.....
......
The state argues it is "fully within its rights to exclude swastikas, sacrilege, and overt racism from state-issued license plates that bear the state's name and imprimatur."
Opponents say this violates the free speech of the drivers who would select the license plate - a view upheld by the Court of Appeals.
But the state counters that license plates are government property, on which the government can decide its own message - which would not breach the First Amendment.
At the heart of this case, then, is a simple question for the Supreme Court justices.
"Does my licence plate speak for me, or my state?"
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32023016
A licence plate displaying the Confederate Flag has sparked a US Supreme Court battle over the right to free speech.....
.....
The Sons of Confederate Veterans, sponsors of the controversial plate - went to the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, where they successfully argued that to reject their design was to restrict their right to free speech - protected by the First Amendment.
The case now stands before the nine Supreme Court justices - who must consider how the rights of constitution apply within these 12-by-6in (30-by-15cm) metal plates.....
......
The state argues it is "fully within its rights to exclude swastikas, sacrilege, and overt racism from state-issued license plates that bear the state's name and imprimatur."
Opponents say this violates the free speech of the drivers who would select the license plate - a view upheld by the Court of Appeals.
But the state counters that license plates are government property, on which the government can decide its own message - which would not breach the First Amendment.
At the heart of this case, then, is a simple question for the Supreme Court justices.
"Does my licence plate speak for me, or my state?"