One of the first things the Republicans did after getting control of the North Carolina General Assembly was to pass a law which allowed the state Division of Motor Vehicles to offer an anti-abortion vanity license plate, "Choose Life." The problem? No corresponding pro-choice plate was up for sale. Earlier today, a federal appeals court declared this to be a First Amendment violation.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in a 3-0 opinion written by Judge James Wynn of North Carolina.
“Chief amongst the evils the First Amendment prohibits are government ‘restrictions distinguishing among different speakers, allowing speech by some but not others,’” Wynn wrote, quoting an unrelated U.S. Supreme Court decision. “In this case, North Carolina seeks to do just that: privilege speech on one side of the hotly debated issue — reproductive choice — while silencing opposing voices.”
The license plates had never been offered, because U.S. District Court Judge James Fox in November 2011 temporarily blocked the law from going into effect. Then he ruled in December 2012 that the plates were unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
Read the full ruling
here. It pointed out that the legislature rejected several potential pro-choice plates when it considered the vanity plate bill. North Carolina argued that this wasn't a matter of private speech, but government speech--and when the government speaks, it can say what it wants. The panel didn't buy it, pointing out that promotional material for the vanity-plate program encouraged vehicle owners to "make a statement" and "promote themselves" with "a plate that fits you." It also noted the wide variety of plates that were available. The way the panel saw it, by not offering a pro-choice plate, North Carolina was saying, "You can make a statement--but only if you're on our side of the issue." It held--rightly--that this argument didn't fly.
No word yet on whether North Carolina will appeal to the full court. But if it does, it's pretty likely this ruling will hold up. According to Wikipedia, Democratic-appointed judges hold 11 of the 18 slots on the court (six appointed by Obama, four by Clinton and one by Carter).