John Matthews
WMAL.com
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that states cannot be compelled to produce a license plate design that features the confederate battle flag, and that leaves Maryland and Virginia with a decision to make – whether to continue offering confederate plates.
The case decided by the Supreme Court was from Texas. The court ruled that license plate designs are government — and not private — speech, and that the government is allowed to discriminate based upon content when it speaks.
Maryland and Virginia both tried to ban the confederate symbol from their plates in the 1990s, but lower court rulings compelled them to offer the plates. Maryland currently has about 150 active Confederate plates, but Virginia is much more active in that regard, with 1,343 car plates and 259 motorcycle plates registered as of February 28 this year.
In an email to WMAL, a Virginia DMV spokeswoman says the commonwealth is reviewing the Supreme Court ruling, but that any change at this point would have to be made by the General Assembly.
In Maryland, MVA spokesman Buel Young told WMAL the state attorney general will have to decide whether to investigate pulling the plates, but adds there’s been no indication he will do so.
“They are still available,” says Young. “There’s no process in place at this time [to stop issuing the plates.]”
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