Post by NewOrleans on Feb 11, 2014 21:18:19 GMT -5
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A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that North Carolina’s attempt to offer a “Choose Life” license plate and not provide an abortion-rights alternative was unconstitutional.
The ruling is the third time one of the Republican-led General Assembly’s abortion laws has been struck down over the past three years.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in a 3-0 opinion written by Judge James Wynn of North Carolina.
“Chief amongst the evils the First Amendment prohibits are government ‘restrictions distinguishing among different speakers, allowing speech by some but not others,’ ” Wynn wrote, quoting the U.S. Supreme Court decision on campaign financing known as Citizens United. “In this case, North Carolina seeks to do just that: privilege speech on one side of the hotly debated issue – reproductive choice – while silencing opposing voices.”
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed against the state by the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation. ACLU legal director Chris Brooks said the ACLU would have made the same argument if the situation was reversed and the state was allowing only a pro-choice license plate.
“Today’s ruling protects the right of North Carolinians of all political beliefs to have equal access to avenues for free speech,” Brooks said in a statement the organization released.
John Rustin, president of the N.C. Family Policy Council, said he hopes the state will continue to fight for the license plates.
“We encourage the State of North Carolina to continue its defense of this important law,” Rustin said.
The license plates were never on the street, because U.S. District Court Judge James Fox in November 2011 temporarily blocked the law, and then ruled in December 2012 that the plates were unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. The state attorney general appealed, and the case was heard by the appeals court in Richmond, Va., in October.
North Carolina argued that the license plates constituted permissible “government speech” expressed by the state’s elected officials, not private speech. Government speech isn’t subject to scrutiny under the free speech clause of the First Amendment, according to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Fourth Circuit in 2002 ruled that Virginia’s ban on the plates with the confederate flag was unconstitutional. Out of that case came the view that some speech is both private and government, and the case established factors for determining private versus government speech
The appeals court also ruled in 2004 that a similar “Choose Life” license plate law in South Carolina was unconstitutional, while implicating a mixture of private and government speech rights.
Wynn wrote that in the North Carolina case there were more factors indicating private speech than government speech.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said the Fourth Circuit’s precedent rulings are well-established, and are the reason Virginia has an abortion-rights license plate as well as a “Choose Life” plate.
“It is unclear to me why North Carolina chose to fight this losing battle and will now have to pay attorneys’ fees,” Tobias said.
The attorney general’s office had no comment on the ruling Tuesday.
Another federal appeals court – the Sixth Circuit – has ruled to the contrary in a “Choose Life” case from Tennessee, and the U.S. Supreme Court has not dealt with the license plates issue directly.
The General Assembly approved a bill authorizing a number of new specialty license plates in June 2011. Democratic lawmakers were unsuccessful in several attempts to amend the bill to include plates with an alternative view, such as “Respect Choice.”
The plates would have cost $25 a year, with $10 going to the state highway fund and $15 to an umbrella organization that promotes alternatives to abortion through “crisis pregnancy centers.”
The funding scheme is part of a national effort to promote similar license plates across the country.
Federal judges have also struck down recent North Carolina laws that defunded Planned Parenthood and that required doctors to narrate and display ultrasound images in the days and hours before an abortion. The ultrasound ruling is under appeal.
Chief Judge William B. Traxler and Judge George L. Russell III from the U.S. District Court in Maryland were also on the panel.
Jarvis: 919-829-4576; Twitter: @craigj_NandO
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Does this apply to all states? I saw a VA "choose life" tag the other morning.
"Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said the Fourth Circuit’s precedent rulings are well-established, and are the reason Virginia has an abortion-rights license plate as well as a “Choose Life” plate."
Post by redheadbaker on Feb 12, 2014 9:14:41 GMT -5
Shit like this makes me rage.
Not exactly the same, but S.O. and I were driving to my parents' pick up DS and the dogs the day after I was discharged from the hospital after my D&E.
For about 5 miles on a one-lane road, we're stuck behind some bitch with anti-abortion bumper stickers all over her car. Why do people feel the need to put that all over their car?!?
Not exactly the same, but S.O. and I were driving to my parents' pick up DS and the dogs the day after I was discharged from the hospital after my D&E.
For about 5 miles on a one-lane road, we're stuck behind some bitch with anti-abortion bumper stickers all over her car. Why do people feel the need to put that all over their car?!?
Because don't you make life altering personal decisions regarding your health and reproductive rights based on bumpers stickers you see on your commute? I know I do.
Post by cattledogkisses on Feb 12, 2014 12:08:20 GMT -5
Bleh. Why do license plates have to make a political statement at all? I know some of them support good causes (off the top of my head, Maine has plates that support animal welfare, local farmers, and military families), but I'd really be ok with just one standard plate per state, that has your state animal or flower or whatever on it and that's it.
Post by cattledogkisses on Feb 12, 2014 12:16:19 GMT -5
Yeah, I just looked it up and Maine currently has 22 different license plates. At what point does it become ridiculous? When did license plates start supporting causes anyway?
Alabama has SO MANY TAGS. OMG. There's enough that I swear you could fit them all in a catalog. And they all benefit SOMETHING.
In fact, Alabama has 2 standard tags.
When I got mine the last time, the woman started issuing me the "God Bless America" one. I asked for the other one, and she gave me a huge dirty look and told me that wasn't very Christian of me.
Alabama has SO MANY TAGS. OMG. There's enough that I swear you could fit them all in a catalog. And they all benefit SOMETHING.
In fact, Alabama has 2 standard tags.
When I got mine the last time, the woman started issuing me the "God Bless America" one. I asked for the other one, and she gave me a huge dirty look and told me that wasn't very Christian of me.
Oh my. I think some ugly words would've flown out of my mouth. And I AM Christian, so, you know, I can only imagine her response then lol.
When I got mine the last time, the woman started issuing me the "God Bless America" one. I asked for the other one, and she gave me a huge dirty look and told me that wasn't very Christian of me.
Oh my. I think some ugly words would've flown out of my mouth. And I AM Christian, so, you know, I can only imagine her response then lol.
I told her "Either is your judging. And I'm Jewish*."
*I'm not, but I will tell people I am when they get too Christian on me.
My new neighbor has a "take my hand, not my life" bumper sticker on his back window. Not going to lie, that colors my view of him. I hadn't seen it up close until we were all parked at the bus stop today. Totally judging now!
My new neighbor has a "take my hand, not my life" bumper sticker on his back window. Not going to lie, that colors my view of him. I hadn't seen it up close until we were all parked at the bus stop today. Totally judging now!
I just saw not one, but two, of these on a car this morning. Along with another pro-life one. I rolled my eyes but also laughed at being so FOR THE BABIES that they needed two copies of the same one.
Bleh. Why do license plates have to make a political statement at all? I know some of them support good causes (off the top of my head, Maine has plates that support animal welfare, local farmers, and military families), but I'd really be ok with just one standard plate per state, that has your state animal or flower or whatever on it and that's it.
California was the same way. They had a veterans one, a police and fire one, one that supported early childhood education, one that supported whales/beach clean up, and a Tahoe one that supported the environment as well. All pretty non-controversial, and there were "only" 6-8 plates, and not 40 like some states have.
I don't think NY has special plates. I think PA has a handful, but I really haven't seen any.
The ones I really don't get are the Florida State and such plates. Why do we have TN Plates for a college that isn't even the damn state?
I agree with this. When I see a Georgia state Auburn tag, I go cross-eyed. I'm sure part of the proceeds go to the school's foundation. Doesn't the state have an interest in keeping those funds in the state? /pet peeve