The Supreme Court ruled today that Texas can deny the group Sons of Confederate Veterans’ application for a special license plate that prominently features the Confederate battle flag. The fight was defined as a First Amendment battle, but the Court decided that denying the plate was government speech.
As previously reported, the SCV group had been first turned down in 2011 by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. The American Civil Liberties Union and other unlikely groups joined with the SCV, claiming that it was government censorship.
However, the Court disagreed with that notion, voting 5-4 in favor of Texas. “When the government speaks, it is not barred by the Free Speech Clause from determining the content of what it says,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in the opinion.
Surprisingly, Justice Clarence Thomas joined the other liberal-leaning justices who voted in favor of Texas.
Beyer wrote that the case involved government speech, not private speech and so the government should not have its own free speech rights violated.
“Just as Texas cannot require SCV to convey the State's ideological message, SCV cannot force Texas to include a Confederate battle flag on its specialty license plates,” Beyer wrote.
Justice Samuel Alito noted in his minority opinion that the ruling “establishes a precedent that threatens private speech that the government finds displeasing,” notes The New York Times.
Nine other states have allowed SCV license plates, but today’s decision would allow those states to ban them now.
You can read the full case right here.