A federal judge in Danville Viriginia ruled today that Virginia can stop issuing Sons of the Confederate Veterans license plates as Governor McAuliffe ordered last month calling the plates “unnecessarily divisive and hurtful.” McAuliffe’s decision was opposed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Federal Judge Jackson Kiser said he will issue a written order regarding the recall of the 1,700 Confederate license plates now in use in Virginia.
Deputy Attorney General Rhodes B. Ritenour argued that the plates are licensed and distributed by the state and therefore the state can control what the plates say and represent without violating the First Amendment. This opinion was re-enforce when the Supreme Court ruled in June that license plates in Texas were government speech and therefore could be controlled by the government.
Kirk D. Lyons, of The Southern Legal Resource Center in North Carolina, representing the Sons of the Confederacy, said they are likely to appeal the decision.
In a Quinnipiac Poll released on July 27th Virginians were equally divided on the issue, 46% of Virginians wanted the flag removed from the license plates and 45% thought it should be permitted.
More on the story here.
21 comments
[…] will begin recalling the 1,700 license plates with the Confederate flag. We previously wrote about Federal Judge Jackson Kiser’s ruling that the state could stop issuing the plates. The Washington Post […]
It is kind of hypocritical of VA not to allow these plates, given its history as a major state in the Confederacy. The state kind of “owns” owns its history at this point, warts and all. Tmac of course is from NY State, and not a real Virginian. He only moved here due to being brought in by the DNC. His major interest in VA is securing it for Hillary in 2016.
Since, I am from the North originally, I use the “Don’t Tread on Me” Flag and bumper sticker. I am not about to pay the government for the privilege of posting a message on my license plate.
It won’t stop here…so what’s next? “Choose Life” plates, and the “Don’t Tread on Me” plates? It’s only a matter of time before the state government finds those offensive and devisive as well.
I’ve never been a fan of vanity plates because they eventually cause the problems you are seeing today. The only reason the state got into that business was for the extra money. Well, now how much money is it costing the state to police these lousy tags? How much will it eventually cost in various lawsuit costs and court time because someone is offended by a tag? I say dump vanity plates.
And while they are at it they can outlaw bumper stickers, little tires on BIG wheels, Christmas ornaments and those stupid flag things with VT flying in the breeze. Get rid of them all.
All car makes look the same these days. Soon they will all be the same with interchangeable 3D printed body parts. Vanity plates aren’t going to change that or make you feel special in full stop traffic. If you want to customize something, buy a horse.
How is this news and the release of new Lerner/IRS emails this week proving that TEA party groups were being systematically targeted doesn’t make the grade ? “Just today, I instructed one of my managers to get an additional information letter out to one of these organizations — if nothing else to buy time so he didn’t contact his Congressional Office,” she wrote.
Because this is about freedom of speech, and taking that right away from American’s.
Government will nor stop with taking a flag away. Once government starts something, they know no boundaries.
The IRS targeting of TEA party groups was about freedom of speech too.
Nobody who is anybody really cares except Fox News, and you. That saga now is nothing but “base bait”.
“Base bait” to catch the base. Get them to the polls in 16′ to vote for Wall St./corporate candidates.
That hard drive is gone. Obama has less than 1.5 years left in the White House. Can Learner be tied to Bill and Hillary? Sorry.
By the way, how many hours a day do you spend listening to Limbaugh/Fox say the same thing over and over for years?
Are you able to have conversations without insulting people ? I haven’t said a single insulting word to you, not even in spirit.
To the substance of what you said, I think it’s an important topic. To your idea of there being nothing new to see, that was the point of my original comment, there IS something new to see, but since it isn’t a hot news item at the moment nobody is paying attention to the new information.
What is new about that saga? I can’t find anything new?
The real story is that these type groups from both political parties get tax exemptions. That is a joke.
If I did go to the trouble of showing you, all you’d do is write some snippy nonsense back to me, so why should I bother ?
Individuals do not own license plates. Virginia does. Thus, there is no violation of anyone’s freedom of speech if Virginia orders a change in license plates. The confederate sympathizers can very easily put bumper stickers with the rebel flag on their car, or paint the car with rebel flags a la Dukes of Hazard style.
If it makes Republicans feel better, think of this as repeal and replace, but with an actual plan to replace something.
Not about Confederates. That war ended in 1865. At least for the sane majority.
You do not seem to be able to digest (see) the big picture, not surprised. If what you say is true? How long before McAulliffe mandates that all license plate contain the phrase “Hillary in 16′”? If the governor taketh, can he not also giveth?
Government has no right to decide who’s message they are going to sponsor and who’s message they are not. The correct decision was for the judge to either allow any message or none at all on all Virginia license plates.
I can only imagine the look on your face if we had a Republican governor mandate, “Bush for President” be on all Virginia license tags.
Besides, McAulliffe is nothing but a Dominion Power puppet, who does not keep promises.
Yep, the state of Virginia deciding to no longer sell Confederate flag license plates is the exact same thing as making every license plate “Hillary ’16”. What a completely reasonable and plausible take.
And now, you are defending a governor who is not only Democrat, but a key part of the Hillary political machinery???????
Come on, admit it, you are a Liberal Democrat?
I’m saying you made a really stupid comparison.
And between the two of us, you’re the one who said they were excited to vote for Elizabeth Warren.
And, I am saying that you’re the one that supports our democrat governor.
And, I am saying that you are being naïve about The implications of messages on license plates.
Yes, you’re saying something really stupid because I won’t go along with your batshit insane analogy. Get over it.
I do understand that things evolve but this just seems like knee-jerk politically correct bullying to me. These plates attracted no interest until the shooting in SC recently.
The government is saying that the Sons of the Confederate Veterans don’t matter anymore, because the government has decided they are on the wrong side of these politically correct times. It’s a form of censorship – “If we don’t like what you stand for, we’ll just censor you.”