HOUSTON, Texas–Earlier this week the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles lost a court battle to a Southern heritage group who seeks to have Confederate flags on license plates in Texas.
According to the Los Angeles Times, there was a 2-1 ruling in the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that the Texas department violated the First Amendment rights of the Sons of Confederate Veterans group when they rejected their specialty license plate application in 2011. The majority vote made by the court stated that the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles “engaged in impermissible viewpoint discrimination.”
Last April U.S. Judge Ann Sparks ruled that the state had the right to reject the plates, but now that ruling has been overturned.
The department was represented by the Texas Attorney General’s office who said they plan to appeal the decision.
The license plate was designed with a Confederate battle flag framed on all four sides with the words “Sons of Confederate Veterans 1896.” The plate also features an outline of the state of Texas and another Confederate flag in the background.
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