Not Every Vanity Plate is Equal

TRIGGER WARNING:  .
For John, BLUF:  SCOTUS said no to Confederate Battle Flag on Texas license plates.  Seems reasonable to me.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

I was reading the "Opinion" pages of The Boston Globe and saw Scott Lemieux Walker v Sons of Confederate Veterans.  I immediate thought of Governor Scott Walker.  But, the Picture has a cut line that talks to Michigan and the reference to The [Manchester] Guardian says Texas.

It turns out that Mr Scott Lemieux Walker is the Texas is the Chairman of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board.♠  And the case is, indeed, WALKER, CHAIRMAN, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES BOARD, ET AL. v. TEXAS DIVISION, SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS, INC., ET AL..

Up front, I am not keen on Government limiting free expression, even stupid free expression.  Let's face it, a lot of scientists would have to be shunned, eventually, when their visualization of how things work was replaced by a new visualization.  It is the way of the West.

However, the US Supreme Court found that Texas has the right to say no to certain proposed designs for individualized license plates.  The majority included Justice Clarence Thomas.  I guess this is a signal that the New York case, where the Department of Motor Vehicles say no to a pro-life plate, will be sustained.  In the New York case the argument turned on whether people would find pro-life views offensive.♥

And, in the end, free speech is not being limited.  One can still put a decal of the Stars and Bars in one's rear window or on one's bumper.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Perhaps this Walker is related to the famed Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker.  But, that Walker has a partner for eight years, Ranger James Trivette, who was Black.  Check it out.
♥  Of course some people would find pro-life advocacy offensive. s; It suggests that they are for the casual murder of innocent human beings.