Monday, March 20, 2006

License Plates and Free Speech



A federal appeals court has allowed the state of Tennessee to offer pro-life license plates while at the same time refusing to offer pro-choice license plates:

Federal appeals courts have been divided over whether such license plate programs are constitutional. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower-court ruling that said similar South Carolina license plates violated the First Amendment.

Drivers will be able to pay an extra fee in Tennessee for the "Choose Life" plate, and some of the proceeds will go to New Life Resources, an anti-abortion group.

But drivers in Tennessee are not able to pay an extra fee for a pro-choice plate.