Saturday, May 14, 2011

Florida Man in Push to Get Confederate License Plate Approved

We read:
"Adams runs the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Florida. What he wants to express on his license plate is his affinity with the Confederacy. A few years ago he designed a plate that reads “Confederate Heritage,” with a rebel flag in the center.

It’s a similar design currently on license plates in nine other states, including Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

But Florida requires the approval of the state legislature for all license plates and has repeatedly rejected the so-called “rebel plate.”

All in all, Florida issues more than 120 specialty plates, which Adams says makes license plates free speech. On March 30, he got a federal judge to agree, declaring the license approval process unconstitutional. The judge said the process unfairly gives the state legislature “unfettered discretion to engage in viewpoint discrimination.”

Thompson and other members of the state’s black legislative caucus are vowing to fight the plate if and when Adams finds a sponsor.

Thompson says the judge’s ruling does not force the legislature to put every proposed symbol on a license plate. “It only says we have to make the process fair and equal,” she said.

Adams says he is prepared to sue again if the legislature denies his plate.

Source

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If he's so worried about "racism", perhaps Mr. Thompson should first explain why there isn't a white legislative caucus.

sig said...

The pride that Southerners have in their Confederate heritage is no different from others honoring the veterans, fallen or otherwise, of other wars. If you don't want the license plate, then don't buy it.