Monday, December 10, 2012

Federal Judge Dictates What NC License Plates Say



The Bill of Rights was implemented, or should I say demanded, by the States to protect their sovereignty and the rights of their citizens from the abuses of the Federal Government.  The Constitution wouldn’t have passed without it.  Not one State would’ve cast aside the Articles of Confederation for this new form of government without this indemnification.  But now we have federal judges impeding upon what is left of a States prerogative:
RALEIGH A federal judge has ruled that North Carolina cannot issue “Choose Life” license plates without offering a choice of plates with a different viewpoint.

U.S. District Court Judge James Fox ruled Friday that the state’s attempt to offer “Choose Life” plates only is unconstitutional because it is “viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.”
The ruling comes 15 months after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of four "pro-choice automobile owners" who contended the "Choose Life" plates were state-sponsored discrimination.

Attempts to persuade the Republican-led legislature to amend legislation to include “Respect Choice” plates or “Trust Women. Respect Choice” plates failed.
No “Choose Life” plates have been issued. Fox halted sales while the ACLU lawsuit was pending.

The 2011 law, which approved other specialty plates, too, would have directed proceeds from the "Choose Life" plates to the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, a nonprofit pregnancy care ministry.
“This is a great victory for the free speech rights of all North Carolinians, regardless of their point of view on reproductive freedom,” Chris Brook, legal director of the ACLU’s North Carolina Legal Foundation, said in a statement. “The government cannot create an avenue of expression for one side of a contentious political issue while denying an equal opportunity to citizens with the opposite view.”

The Progressives are all about precedents; not principles.  Maybe they should consult Barron v. Baltimore.  The Marshall Supreme Court ruled that the first eight amendments in the Bill of Rights did not apply to the States, only to the Federal Government.  How convenient that today’s justices forget about that. 


http://www.basicsproject.org/constitutional_literacy/government/incorporation.htm

No comments: