Posted on 02/12/2014 6:34:38 AM PST by Innovative
North Carolina's anti-abortion license plate is unconstitutional because the state doesn't provide the same forum for motorists on the other side of the contentious issue, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
A three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a federal judge's ruling that the "Choose Life" license plate is unconstitutional.
Lawmakers approved the anti-abortion plates in 2011 and rejected proposals to offer plates with messages "Trust Women" and "Respect Choice." That constitutes "blatant viewpoint discrimination squarely at odds with the First Amendment," wrote appeals court Judge James A. Wynn, who is from North Carolina.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Agreed.
“They should make another plate available. “choose death””
Note to self: Read all the posts. There are a lot of clever people out there...
Not sure exactly what Plaintiff’s arguments were, but when I was in practice the 4th Cir was, hands down, the most conservative Circuit. Wonder how that holds today?
“So by the judges logic, any other of the state issued vanity license plates (of which their are hundreds) should also be unconstitutional if there isn’t one for the opposing view “Example: Support Wildlife Conservation (Where’s Oppose Wildlife Conservation?) Remember 9/11 (Where’s Forget 9/11?)”
Good point!
Yeah but vanity plates and logos are a cash cow for the government so they will stay.
More emanations and penumbras.
See my post 8, one of the judges was appointed by Obama.
An excellent way to sum up the question.
The root of the issue is that the pro-abortion crowd has the political and tactical advantage of being the “established” or “accepted” position in the town square [speaking metaphorically]. As such, they do not want any challenges to their power and thus would rather suppress other’s speech than advance their own.
No the opposite of remember 9 11 is celebrate 9 11. The other side doesn’t want to forget it either.
Give the Democrats their “Kill em’ in the womb” plates. It makes a statement about who they are.
I agree. If someone wants to say they’re pro-life, buy a bumper sticker. Same thing with the pro-death crowd.
What this is really about is the power that militant feminazis have over the politicians. The babes send them a lot of money and they bow down and do their bidding.
Stupid. I am actually for plates that say most anything within reason, even pro choice. As I tell my kids you can easily identify the morons of the world by their bumper stickers and license plates.
NC should just tell the fed judge ‘s, “Nice opinion”, now enforce it. It’s way past due to tell these judge’s to piss off with their decesions.
The point, though, is that these plates are supported by those who buy them, not your tax dollars. This is about what speech the state will ALLOW.
WINNER!!!!!!!!!
The utter ca-ca of this decision is found in the phrase “viewpoint discrimination”. That is utter nonsense. While it exists, there is nothing wrong with it.
That the license says “North Carolina” is also “viewpoint discrimination”. The very existence of a license discriminates against the viewpoint that licenses are not needed.
Importantly, complaints that the abortion debate is “political”, is also nonsense. There is no “abortion party” or “pro-life party”, though parties lean in those directions.
Yes, clearly this decision should be overturned.
Somebody is doing way too many recreational drugs. Our so called “courts” are totally worthless and lawless.
“In God We Trust” on SC plates is next.
Who is paying the plate, not the feds so make the plate and move on and tell the feds to shove it unless they are flipping for the cost of the plate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.