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Recently, oral arguments were heard regarding a case about license plates and the first amendment. The Texas division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has challenged a rejection of their proposed plate that had images of the Confederate flag.
The Texas solicitor general argued that, "Messages on Texas license plates are government speech ... [because] Texas etches its name onto each license plate and Texas law gives the state sole control and final approval authority over everything that appears on a license plate.”
Please share your ideas/comments on this case or your views on vanity plates in general.
Story: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-supreme-court-confederate-license-plates-20150323-story.html
Case: http://www.oyez.org/cases/2010-2019/2014/2014_14_144
What a vanity plate is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_plate
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday April 05 2015, @05:34PM
But then in a truly civil society people also wouldn't feel the need to broadcast their opinions everywhere they go.
In a truly civil society people wouldn't feel any need NOT to broadcast their opinions. FIFY.
People are expected to have opinions and preferences. In a civil society people are expected to tolerate or ignore expression of same by others.
But the sooner you disabuse yourself of these expectations, especially the latter, the happier you will be.
Bringing it back around to Vanity plates, typically these are simply letters and numbers that the owner prefers, sometimes and inside joke, sometimes just something easier to remember. Most states have veto power over what goes on these plates.
Once you get to specify your own images on the plate, those are theme plates, which typically aren't done as one-offs for Joe Sixpack, but might be available as a state sponsored promotions [wa.gov], (Veterans, Teams, Universities, etc). I would expect more restrictions on this type of plate than simple personalized plates. They do have to be readable after all.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by draconx on Sunday April 05 2015, @06:30PM
Those are not the only options. In a free society we must also be able to disagree with someone's speech, and express that disagreement. But maybe a "free" society is different from a "civil" one.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 05 2015, @07:10PM
So long as they're valid opinions, thats what we have now. The problem is, some people think that the idea that skin color, gender, and/or sexual orientation must be the same as theirs in order for a person to be human, and that people with different skin colors, genders, and/or sexual orientation aren't even human and deserve to be murdered or enslaved, is a valid opinion to have.
I have yet to hear a logically consistent explanation for how being a member of my species requires one to have a specific amount of melanin, a specific set of genitals, or to only love or engage in recreational activities with people of a specific gender.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 05 2015, @07:21PM
Just to be clear here, they can think whatever they want, but the key here is "deserve to be murdered or enslaved", eg, they are of the opinion that everyone they consider to be subhuman should be wiped from existence or enslaved. So long as their "opinion" is that certain people should not have freedom or life based on factors that are outside of everyone's control, it is invalid. Simply not liking or not wanting to be around certain people because of those factors would be fine, but wanting to deprive others of their freedom or life because of factors outside of their control is not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 05 2015, @07:33PM
So long as their "opinion" is that certain people should not have freedom or life based on factors that are outside of everyone's control, it is invalid.
I do not agree with their opinion either, but it is a subjective matter.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 05 2015, @10:12PM
"The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom." --Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson
"Life is politics. If you choose not to engage, you lose by forfeit." --gewg_
.
Quasi-related:
In the case of the New Hampshire guy who put tape on his license plate to cover "Live Free or Die" [wikipedia.org]
William Rehnquist (ever the authoritarian) dissented.
.
About the flag:
The one most commonly thought of as "The Confederate Flag" [usflag.org] gets called "The Stars and Bars" by some.
THAT IS THE NAME OF A DIFFERENT FLAG. [usflag.org]
Even the Confederate Battle Flag ("The Southern Cross") was a different thing from the typical representation; the actual item had 4 equal edges.
-- gewg_