Science > Abortion > License plates honoring military caught in abortion controversy
| Topic: |
Science > Abortion |
| User: |
"Otis Willie" |
| Date: |
03 Oct 2004 07:50:16 PM |
| Object: |
License plates honoring military caught in abortion controversy |
License plates honoring military caught in abortion controversy
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1096823640138810.xml&storylist=louisiana
{EXCERPT} Times Picayune, LA - 6 hours ago gesture, but the
Legislature's move to revive the practice of issuing automobile
license plates honoring veterans and various members of the military
may run......
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| User: "GOOD RIDDANCE on Nov. 2nd to Dishonest Warmonger-in-Thief G.W. Bush!" |
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| Title: Re: License plates honoring military caught in abortion controversy |
04 Oct 2004 08:05:08 AM |
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On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 00:50:16 GMT, Otis Willie
<americanwarlibrary@pacbell.net> wrote:
License plates honoring military caught in abortion controversy
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1096823640138810.xml&storylist=louisiana
By KEVIN McGILL
The Associated Press
10/3/2004, 12:07 p.m. CT
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- It may have been meant as a harmless,
patriotic gesture, but the Legislature's move to revive the practice
of issuing automobile license plates honoring veterans and
various members of the military may run afoul of the ongoing battle
over anti-abortion plates.
"They haven't even been created yet," Michelle Rayburn,
spokeswoman for the state Office of Motor Vehicles, said Friday
when asked about the plates called for in legislation passed during
the 2004 regular session.
Fights over what can and cannot be emblazoned on a Louisiana
license plate date back to 1999, when lawmakers easily approved
the anti-abortion "Choose Life" plate, available for an extra $25 with
the added revenue dedicated to agencies that help women giving
birth to unplanned pregnancies and those considering adoption.
Abortion rights proponents complained that the state does not offer
those with other political views a similar way to express them. (An
attempt to create a "choose choice" tag failed in the Legislature in
2002. A bid for a specialty plate for gay rights died during the 2003
session.)
Years of court hearings followed, resulting in a July 2003 ruling by
U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval in New Orleans, who said the
state's system for issuing specialty plates -- including those with
less controversial messages -- violates the right to free speech
because the Legislature chooses who gets the tags and the money.
Duval's ruling is on appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals, which could rule at any time.
Meanwhile, Act 849 of the 2004 legislative session added a new
wrinkle to the battle.
The legislation started out as one for a plate touting the stock
car racing association NASCAR. Lawmakers added language
ordering the state Department of Public Safety to resume issuing
plates under a host of existing laws honoring former prisoners of
war, National Guard members, reservists, veterans of various wars,
owners of vintage WWII or Korean War vehicles, Pearl Harbor
survivors, and Purple Heart and Medal of Honor recipients, among
others.
Supporters of the bill said it was designed to conform with Duval's
ruling because it does not promote a cause but simply allows plates
issued for a specific class of people.
Attorneys for the state said much the same thing when they filed
papers seeking a ruling from Duval on whether they can issue plates
under the new legislation: "The acquisition of these plates requires
membership in the branch of the military for which the plate is
requested or having achieved the honor represented, such as the
Purple Heart plate."
But issuing special plates only for members of cetain groups, even
medal winners, does not create the "viewpoint neutral" license plate
plan that Duval ordered, and it raises questions about the
Constitution's equal protection requirements, opponents of the
Choose Life plates argued.
"And, of course, the enactment of a new NASCAR special license
plate as a substantial part of the Act renders the Act a mockery of
what the Legislature's findings assert. There is no plate available
for those who oppose NASCAR racing," the opponents said.
Abortion rights attorney William Rittenberg said opponents of the
"Choose Life" plates have nothing against veterans, NASCAR fans,
or other causes supported in the scores of specialty plates. "I've
got no beef with the Louisiana Black Bear," he said, referring to
a conservation effort to save the bear that was funded by another
now-suspended plate.
Rittenberg noted that the "Choose Life" opponents originally
targeted only the anti-abortion plate, but that effort failed in court
because it did not address the fairness of the overall license
plate-issuing scheme.
Lawmakers could easily end the matter by taking themselves
out of the mix, he said. If they want the state to continue issuing
specialty plates, they should establish an office that would issue
the plates to any group that wants them. Plates for a specific
cause would be issued only when a set minimum number of people
apply such a plate, and rules could be constitutionally established
to rule out obscenities on state-issued plates, he said.
Rittenberg said Duval is expected to rule without holding oral
arguments on whether plates can be issued under the new law.
There is no indication when that ruling will come. Meanwhile,
Duval's order doing away with the existing specialty license plate
scheme remains at issue before the 5th Circuit.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.
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