:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/6QRRE7GX2VCB7KVYFDNZHOCKJQ.jpg "Supreme Court will not hear case on Confederate flag license plates in North Carolina")
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not review a decision by North Carolina authorities to stop issuing special license plates with the Confederate flag.
As is typical, the court did not comment in declining to hear the case challenging the state’s decision. The dispute was one of many that the court said Monday it would not hear. It was similar to a case originating in Texas that the court heard in 2015, when it ruled that vehicle license plates are state property.
The current dispute stems from North Carolina’s 2021 decision to stop issuing special license plates bearing the insignia of the North Carolina section of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The section sued, alleging that the state’s decision violated state and federal law. A lower court dismissed the case, and a federal appeals court agreed with that decision.
North Carolina offers three standard license plates and more than 200 special ones. Civic clubs, including the Sons of Confederate Veterans, may create special license plates if they meet specific requirements.
However, in 2021, the state Department of Transportation sent the group a letter advising that “special license plates bearing the Confederate battle flag or any variation of that flag will no longer be issued or revoked” because they “have the potential to offend those who see them.
State authorities indicated that they will consider alternative license plate designs if they do not contain the Confederate flag.
The organization argued unsuccessfully that the state’s decision violated their free speech rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution and state law governing special license plates.
In 2015, the Texas chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans claimed the state government was wrong for not issuing a special license plate bearing the group’s insignia. But the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Texas could limit the content of license plates because they are owned by the state.