![]() The First Amendment dispute has brought together some unlikely allies, including the American Civil Liberties Union, anti-abortion groups, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, civil libertarian Nat Hentoff and conservative satirist P.J. The battle flag is etched on a century-old Civil War monument on the grounds of the state Capitol in Austin. Texas commemorates the Confederacy in many ways. "If you don't want to have the al-Qaida license plate, don't get into the business of allowing people to buy.the space to put on whatever they want to say," the chief justice said. "Texas should not have to allow speech about al-Qaida or the Nazi party simply because it offers a license plate propagating the message `Fight Terrorism,"' Keller said.īut Roberts was unpersuaded by that argument. Keller urged the court not to force Texas to recognize offensive speech. "Texas has its name on every license plate," Keller said.Ĭar owners remain free to express any message they wish by attaching bumper stickers or painting their cars, he said. Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller said the state makes the plates and owns them. "They're only doing this to get the money," Roberts said. More skeptical about the state's argument, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito said the sheer number of messages and their wide range show that the state's only interest is financial. "If you prevail, it's going to prevent a lot of Texans from conveying a message," Kennedy said. The result of such a ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy said, probably would be the end of the state's program of allowing many specialized license plates, and a loss of free speech. The group's lawsuit led to Monday's hearing. The state rarely rejects a specialty plate, but it did turn down a request by the Texas division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for a license plate with its logo bearing the battle flag. They brought in $17.6 million last year and state officials said there are now nearly 450 messages to choose from, from "Choose Life" to the Boy Scouts and hamburger chains. Specialty license plates are big business in Texas. Nine other states allow drivers to display plates with the flag, which remains both a potent image of heritage and a racially charged symbol of repression. Nearly 150 years after the end of the Civil War, the justices heard arguments in a case over Texas' refusal to issue a license plate bearing the battle flag. ![]() WASHINGTON (AP) - In a dispute over a proposed Confederate battle flag license plate, the Supreme Court struggled Monday to balance worries about government censorship and concerns that offensive messages could, at worst, incite violence. ![]()
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