Supreme Court Won't Review Ariz. License Plates Case
The justices refused today to consider a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found an anti-reproductive rights group can force Arizona officials to create license plates that promote its cause. Without comment, the justices denied a review of the 9th Circuit decision in Arizona Life Coalition Inc. v. Stanton. The Arizona License Plate Commission permits nonprofit groups to promote their cause on license plates, but turned down requests from Arizona Life Coalition for a license plate bearing the words “Choose Life.” The group sued the state arguing that its First Amendment rights had been violated. In January 2008, the 9th Circuit agreed, ruling that the Arizona law on specialty license plates does not “prohibit speech related to abortion. The commission ignored its statutory mandate and acted unreasonably in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”