Title: Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. and License Plate Speech: A Dangerous Roadblock for the First Amendment
Abstract: INTRODUCTIONThe First Amendment of the United States Constitution declares that the may not infringe upon a citizen's right to free speech.1 On June 18, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided in Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc.2 that specialty license plate designs are speech and the State is, thus, permitted to practice viewpoint discrimination in rejecting any applicant's design proposal. Because the State has the freedom to associate itself with certain views and not others, the State can, under the speech doctrine, promote certain views while rejecting others without violating the First Amendment.3 The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board (the Board) rejected the Sons of Confederate Veterans's proposed specialty plate design because it believed a design that included the Confederate battle flag would be viewed as offensive and would incite reactions that could result in reckless driving.4 Yet, in the same meeting, the Board approved the Buffalo Soldiers' proposed specialty plate design, despite similar concerns about the design's offensiveness.5Many applaud the Supreme Court's decision in Walker as a step in the right direction to protect and uphold civil rights. However, the Supreme Court has reached the wrong decision. Relying almost exclusively on Pleasant Grove City v. Summum,6 the Court incorrectly found that specialty license plates are comparable to monuments erected within public parks.7 Instead of examining license plate speech under traditional First Amendment analysis, the Court held that specialty license plates, like park monuments, constitute speech because their purpose is to convey messages.8The speech doctrine exempts a state from First Amendment scrutiny when it speaks on its own behalf.9 However, by allowing the State to reject something as simple as a license plate design under the speech doctrine, the Supreme Court's decision also gives the State immense discretion to pursue whatever speech it so desires, as long as it is labeled as government speech.10 Although some have applauded Walker for protecting and upholding civil rights, it permits the to discriminate against unpopular viewpoints under the label of government speech, which ultimately debilitates citizens' First Amendment rights while fortifying states' rights.11 If the State has the power to pursue its own interests as speech and practice viewpoint discrimination, not much can stop the State from infringing on a citizen's First Amendment right to free Because the Court declined to apply First Amendment analysis, the Court improperly decided that the license plate speech in Walker constituted speech.Consider, for example, if the State of Alabama put up a billboard along a major highway that read, ALABAMA CHOOSES LIFE, and YOU should too! Alabama is widely known as a pro-life advocate, and under Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey,12 the State has a substantial interest in potential life throughout pregnancy.13 After the decision in Walker, there is little that prevents the State from acting in such a way. This hypothetical billboard would undoubtedly offend many drivers just as the Walker Court said a Confederate battle flag symbol would offend many drivers. The Court's decision permits states to reject speech it chooses not to promote, and to promote any speech it wants as long as it is labeled government speech; thus, a state could emblazon its name on practically any medium and call it government speech. This presents a dangerous obstacle for citizens' First Amendment rights. It is not possible for citizens to freely express their own views if states can choose to reject their views but decide to approve others'. Such an act exemplifies a blatant violation of the First Amendment and should not be permitted simply because the State labels it as government …
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
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