As usual, the ACLU is an opponent of free speech
"The ACLU has managed to block North Carolina from issuing license plates with a “Choose Life” message because the state legislature declined to also issue “Choose Death” plates.
U.S. District Judge James Fox didn’t put it that way in his Nov. 28 injunction, but he did agree with the ACLU that the absence of an opposing plate violates the First Amendment. The problem arose because lawmakers refused to authorize the “Respect Choice” plate that Planned Parenthood wanted as part of its ongoing “Culture of Death” initiative.
The ruling prompts the question of whether every expression allowed on a license plate must be accompanied by a contrary view, sort of a Fairness Doctrine for motorists.
Tennessee also found itself in court over “Choose Life” plates in 2004 in ACLU of Tennessee v. Bredesen. In 2006, the 6th U.S Circuit Court overturned a district court ruling against the state, saying, “Government can express public policy views by enlisting private volunteers to disseminate its message, and there is no principle under which the First Amendment can be read to prohibit government from doing so because the views are particularly controversial or politically divisive.”
The court pointed out that nobody is forced to buy the “Choose Life” plates, unlike, say, New Hampshire’s “Live Free or Die” plates that all Granite State vehicles must bear.
The current controversy is likely to continue for years, as courts have been all over the map, with some ruling that message plates constitute a “public forum,” and others disagreeing. Twenty-nine states have “Choose Life” plates or have authorized them, according to the Winston-Salem Journal
Source
18 comments:
Why can't people just effing buy license plate frames that can say whatever the eff they want?
Why do government, courts, lawyers, and special interest groups feel the need to be involved in every aspect, down to the tiniest detail, of our lives?
-L
Am I the only one who is with the ACLU on this one? They tend to piss me off, but if PP wanted a Respect Choice plate, they should be able to have it. I want free speech for right to lifers, so I have to let those who believe in choice have the same rights.
The ACLU nothing but a bunch of lefists reptiles and life sidewinders
The ONLY reason why state governments want these specialty plates is because of the money it brings in. It has absolutely nothing to do about free speech. If you want to make a statement on your car, get a bumpersticker.
Am I the only one who is with the ACLU on this one?
You may well be.
I don't care if Planned Parenthood wants a plate or not. Under the guidelines, they should.
But that is not what the lawsuit and injunction is about. It is not about allowing Planned Parenthood to have a plate.
The lawsuit sought to strip another group of THEIR freedoms under the guise of "this group doesn't have the same rights."
That is backwards.
You don't demand "freedom of speech" by squelching the speech and expression of others.
This is a case where the judge overstepped. He is no business in stopping a legal plate. He can try and force the legislature to print the Planned Parenthood plate, but he cannot say "you can't make "Choose Life" plate without violating the First Amendment and separation of powers.
The ACLU and their supporters have just argued, successfully, that censorship is hunky-dory as long as everyone is censored.
In their love of centralized power, they have forgotten what civil rights are.
Dear ACLU, two wrongs don't make a right.
What I don't get is why the State is issuing any kind of vanity license plates at all. You are perfectly free to put whatever kind of sticker, painted message, etc you want on your car. You could have "Choose Life" painted in big block letters on every square inch of your car (except, reasonably, the windows) and that wouldn't be a problem.
A license plate doesn't seem like a very effective way of conveying your message--it is really small, and so you can't fit very much on there.
If the State allows a license plate with a political message, then they are essentially subsidizing that message with taxpayer money, because those plates are payed for with tax dollars. You can be sure that the individual fees you pay for the plate aren't enough to directly pay for the manufacturing of your individual one, which means that someone else's tax dollars are going into your plate--the difference has to come from somewhere. If the State is supporting one message (here, Choose Life) instead of another (Respect Choice), then you have fairness issues, no matter the content of the speech.
Is it too much to ask that my tax dollars aren't used to subsidize other people's political message? If the State is wasting tax money this way, then they probably don't need it.
Is there a counter-message to a state issued plate that carries no special interest message?
Albert, you are correct. States are simply trying to pander to as many people as they can, (without getting into trouble) and it's only for the revenue. A state-issued plate should contain no information other than the state issuing it, the tag number, and the experation date.
Anon 5:59 said:
"You don't demand "freedom of speech" by squelching the speech and expression of others..."
The aclu has made a career of doing just that, and they do it with YOUR tax money!
Seems this nonsense began when the courts took the 'separation of church and state' arguments seriously.
time to declare the aclu unconstitutional.
The US gets more and more like 'Alice in Wonderland' - crazier and crazzzier!
ACLU stands for ATHEISTS,COMMUNISTS & LAWYERS,UNDERGROUND
Wait, so if they have to allow a "choose death" plate if they allow choose light, then if there are any pro gay rights plates, they have to allow anti gay rights plates?
So by extension, if a state has a license plate that reads. "America's Dairyland" does that mean they must also have a plate that reads, "Not America's Dairyland" to appease the lactose intolerant?
"Fairness Doctrine" style legislation will do nothing less than remove our liberties and freedom.
They would have allowed for SAVE THE PLANET KILL YOURSELF like many radical eco-freaks use
Ever wonder if the guy you just cut off or pulled some other bone headed driving maneuver in front of will think less of the cause you are supporting with your license plate and/or bumper stickers?
Just a little food for thought :)
If the State allows a license plate with a political message, then they are essentially subsidizing that message with taxpayer money, because those plates are payed for with tax dollars.
Here in Florida, the fees for the plates are paid above and beyond what the standard plate costs. The group or institution sets the price about the state cost to make the plate.
The taxpayers aren't subsidizing anything. It is a direct "pay for what you get" form of capitalism.
Anon 5:59 said:
"You don't demand "freedom of speech" by squelching the speech and expression of others..."
A Levi said:
"The aclu has made a career of doing just that, and they do it with YOUR tax money!"
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Look, sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Equal rights, equal representation. IF NC had allowed the 'Pro-Choice' to have its voice on a specialty plate this would be a non-issue. But they didn't. They violated the rights of others be refusing to allow them an equal voice under the law. Period.
And the ACLU is a non-profit, so please educate yourself before claiming OUR tax dollars pay for their challenges to legislation which violates civil liberties and equal rights.
Personally, when they pass the law to castrate every man & sterilize every woman who think they've got the right to make illegal laws promoting inequality regards women rights / regards what one can & cannot do with their own bodies, that's a law I'll vote yes on.
Now that NC choice plates have been ruled unconstitutional I expect the ALCU to legally challenge every other idiot state who's got them on the books without a pro-choice alternative.
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