WASHINGTON (RNS) A federal court has ruled that the Arizona License Plate Commission must approve an anti-abortion group’s “Choose Life”
specialty license plate.
The Arizona Life Coalition applied for the specialty license plate in 2002, but the Arizona License Plate Commission, which oversees the requests, rejected its application.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Center for Arizona Policy filed a suit in September of 2003.
“Pro-life groups shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs,” ADF senior counsel Gary McCaleb said.
Last January, the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the commission had violated the Arizona Life Coalition’s First Amendment right to free speech by rejecting its application. The commission appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision, but the high court refused to hear the case.
In a decision issued Wednesday (Nov. 19) U.S. District Judge Paul G.
Rosenblatt ordered the commission to convene by Jan. 23 and approved the license plates.
“Many other groups have been allowed to participate in the Arizona specialty plate program. The commission had no legitimate reason to selectively exclude this group,” McCaleb said. “We’re pleased that the plates will soon be available to the public.”
The “Choose Life” license plates are available in at least 19 states, according to Choose Life, Inc., a Florida-based non-profit that waged a six-year legal battle to make Florida the first state to offer the plates.
South Carolina, which offers a “Choose Life” plate, will soon start making “I Believe” license plates that feature a cross and stained glass window. Those plates are already the subject of a legal challenge by Jewish and Hindu groups.
By Ashley Gipson
Copyright 2008 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
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posted November 21, 2008 at 6:42 pm
This is just one more license plate argument of recent months. IMO this falls under freedom of speech. We have my husbands Ham Call Sign on our L.P., and maybe people don’t like it, but we do. I see many “choose life” plates in our state, and when I do I think, I do choose life and that means “freedom of choice”. Like Pork Pig in the movies used to say, “Thats Life Folks”!
posted November 21, 2008 at 7:24 pm
I knew that Florida had them, so as you say, Henrietta, choosing live means… freedom of choice. Well said, My Friend. If folks want a different kind of plate…so what? Personally, I have the standard (not so great design) RI plate. There are a couple of different ones here, but I have never bothered to get one.
posted November 22, 2008 at 5:23 pm
you can have the freedom, saying “choose death.”
posted November 22, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Yes, cknuck, that is certainly a choice too. Would get noticed on the car.
) Folks might wonder if the driver wanted to commit suicide. That could be a “vanity plate”, if indeed a state would actually make it. So far, I’ve not seen one. Have see “666″ which I thought was pretty cool…
posted November 23, 2008 at 7:33 pm
This is just wrong on so many levels!! I want one that has “Choose Death”!!
posted November 24, 2008 at 11:23 am
Henrietta22 wrote: “We have my husbands Ham Call Sign on our L.P.”
???? I have absolutely no idea what that means, but I’m dying to know! What’s a “Ham Call Sign” and what’s an L.P (I assume you don’t mean a vinyl record)?
posted November 24, 2008 at 11:56 am
OK, L.P=license plate. I’m still wondering what a “Ham Call Sign” is, and why people don’t like it.
posted November 24, 2008 at 1:30 pm
How about this one, “Choose wisely”. It would certainly cover all sorts of questions.
posted November 24, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Vehicles are a great way to advertise beliefs, unfortunately they can also add to road rage. I think it’s great to allow people to express themselves on their personal vehicle, whether by plate or sticker. I have a few on my car. At one point a gentleman at my work was asked not to park inside our gate because of all the confederate stickers on his truck and he pointed out the fact that my stickers were allowed. Even though I don’t park inside our gate, I still advocated for this gentleman. If he is expected to use his personal vehicle for work-related use then the company had no right to tell him he couldn’t adorn it as he liked, imo. In the end, it is an opportunity to practice tolerance. Imagine his surprise when he found out I was a kindred spirit in his fight.
posted November 24, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Wannabe Theo, It means Licensed Radio Operators, by the FCC. They provide emergency communications for state and local agencies. Many members all over the world. I was using LP as an abbreviation because that’s the subject here. There really isn’t any reason for anyone to dislike a Ham license, it’s jut a jumble of numbers and letters. I was using that as an example. A lot of people ask what they stand for though in parking lots.
posted November 24, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Wannabe that last post was me. Forgot to put name back after losing the scrambled letters.
posted November 24, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Thanks Henrietta. Now that you’ve explained it, it seems very obvious, but I had a picture in my head of a hog caller yelling “Soooey Soooey” and couldn’t figure out how that could work into a license plate.
P.S. I just lost the scrambled letters game too!
posted November 24, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Henrietta, My Father-in-law had his Ham call letters on his car plate for years. Don’t see much of those any more.
posted November 24, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Pagansister we see quite a few here in the mid-west. I like to read peoples plates when we’re traveling, do you both?
posted November 24, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Yes, Henrietta, I do read plates…constantly. (no while I’m driving), but when I’m the passenger. Some are rather clever.
posted November 25, 2008 at 10:55 am
We lived outside D.C. for many years, and now in FL. We see all sorts of plates – it is fun to sort out the messages as we drive the interstate or wander through parking lots. Also the wide variety of plates available is astounding. No more one-plate-per-state. There are dozens available here in FL, many in support of worthy causes.
I have known many Ham operators over the years. They have been critical to recovery after big storms. It is a sign of the times that there are less and less of them. But I think it will be a while until they are rendered totally obsolete – too many problems with cell phones in disasters. Ham radio gets the word out in a big way.
posted November 25, 2008 at 5:26 pm
A fun thought for the people who pushed for these plates: wouldn’t you need freedom of choice in order to “choose life?”
posted November 26, 2008 at 10:36 am
TZiiiiiing!! Good one, Thelemite!
posted November 27, 2008 at 11:55 am
Of course, in order for people to be able to “choose” life, they would have to have freedom of choice. Otherwise, there’d be no “choice” in the matter – it would be the State telling women, ‘You MUST have this baby.” Talk about facsism.