Supreme Court takes on license plates

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Supreme Court takes on license plates
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Most states have some kind of specialty license
plate program, but Texas state officials drew the
line when one organization sought to have their
logo the Confederate flag depicted on a
plate. On Monday, the Supreme Court will consider
whether the decision to exclude the Sons of
Confederate Veterans (SCV) from the specialty
license plate program violated the organization's
free speech rights under the First Amendment.
This is the first time the justices will take up
the issue to explore the rules for distinguishing
between government and private speech. A law
professor from Notre Dame Law School said he
believes that the ruling could impact not only
state specialty plates but "all of the many, many
ways that government property and funds
facilitate expression and communication. In
Texas, drivers can choose to have standard issue
plates or plates with messages authorized by the
Texas legislature. But there is a third
alternative. Individuals, non-profits or
for-profit businesses can also pay a fee and
create a design subject to the approval of the
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board (DMVB).
It is this third category that is at issue before
the court. These plates are designed to raise
revenue and they can be rejected by the DMV if
the design is found to be "offensive to any
member of the public."
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In Other News

• Chuck Bednarik, the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of
  Fame center and linebacker, one of the last
  N.F.L. players to commonly play on both offense
  and defense and arguably the greatest Eagle of
  all time, died Saturday in Richland, Pa. He was
  89. They called him Concrete Charlie in reference
  to him being a legendary football tough guy.
  Bednarik won two championships with the Eagles in
  1949 and 1960.
• Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz announced that he
  will run for president in 2016 via a Twitter post
  early Monday, becoming the first major candidate
  to officially declare.