The Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision on Thursday that Texas is within its rights to prohibit a controversial Sons of Confederate Veterans license plate featuring the Confederate army's battle flag.
Texas' specialty plate program counts as government free speech, the court ruled, meaning that an individual's First Amendment rights do not prohibit the state from rejecting designs of a person's choosing. Texas, along with 11 other states, suggested that First Amendment challenges do not apply to government-issued license plates. Drivers can use bumper stickers or decals to express their messages instead.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
A wine-themed tour of beautiful UruguayThe Week Recommends Secret paradise in South America boasts beautiful vineyards
-
Romanian democracy: no place for the 'TikTok messiah' Calin GeorgescuTalking Point State is 'fighting back' against poster boy for right-wing conspiracists
-
5 terrifically taxing cartoons about tariffsCartoons Artists take on rising prices, dumb ideas, and more
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suitSpeed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
