Court upholds Tenn. pro-life plate
- Mar 20, 2006 -
WASHINGTON (BP)—The fate of pro-life, specialty license plates may be determined soon by the United States Supreme Court.
The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled March 17 a Tennessee law permitting the state to offer “Choose Life” auto license plates is constitutional. A three-judge panel overturned a federal judge’s ruling in a split decision, rejecting the arguments of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The Sixth Circuit opinion conflicts with a Fourth Circuit ruling against a similar license plate in South Carolina. The difference between the two circuits makes Supreme Court review of one of the cases more likely, the Alliance Defense Fund noted.
ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb was pleased with the decision, “not only for the voters in Tennessee, but also because it reinforces the truth that pro-life speech is not somehow off limits. If the U.S. Supreme Court hears a case of this nature, we are hopeful they will agree.”
In the Sixth Circuit opinion, Judge John Rogers wrote for the 2-1 majority that making a distinction among specialty plates because some people believe the pro-life message is more controversial than others “is entirely indefensible as a matter of First Amendment law. … In the absence of a tenable distinction, invalidating the act in this case would effectively invalidate not only all those government specialty license plate provisions that involve a message that anyone might disagree with but also effectively invalidate all manner of other long-accepted practices in the form of government-crafted messages disseminated by private volunteers.”
On March 7, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the use of the phrase “Choose Life” on a pro-adoption license plate.
The Sixth Circuit is based in Cincinnati, Ohio, while the Fourth Circuit is in Richmond, Va., and the Second Circuit in New York City.
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