Podcast: The Confederate license plate debate
One of the more interesting cases in front of the Supreme Court this term had its day in front of the Justices this week, as lawyers argued about Texas’ right to ban state-issued license plates that feature the Confederate flag.
Scott Gaylord and Ilya Shapiro
In the case of Walker V. Texas Division, Sons Of Confederate Veterans, Inc., the Court will settle a dispute about the distinction between government speech and free speech, and the challenge of drawing boundary lines for free speech, if that argument is accepted by the Court.
The Texas case came about in 2009, when Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans (or SCV) submitted an application to the state’s specialty license program for a plate design that featured the Confederate battle flag.
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicle Board declined the application, citing a policy that it “may refuse to create a new specialty license plate if the design might be offensive to any member of the public.”
The SCV sued, claiming a violation of its First Amendment free speech rights and a 14th Amendment violation, and that Texas used a government-held viewpoint to discriminate against the SCV.
Joining us to discuss the first license plate case to appear before the Court in 38 years are two experts and friends of the National Constitution Center who filed briefs in the case.
Scott Gaylord is a professor of law at Elon University. Professor Gaylord filed an amicus brief for the state of North Carolina on the side of Texas in this case. He is also co-counsel in a pending case from North Carolina about “Choose Life” license plates.
Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute and editor-in-chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review. Ilya co-wrote a brief in the Walker case with P.J. O’Rourke and Nat Hentoff.
To listen to the full podcast, use the audio player below or click on the following link: Download this episode (right click and save)
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