Justice Thomas: No Confederate Plates

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Texas can reject a license plate design which features a Confederate flag. In a surprise twist, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas provided the swing vote and sided with his liberal colleagues to rule against the specialty plates. The plates were submitted by the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) and prominently featured the Confederate flag in an attempt to honour the soldiers who fought for the Confederacy. In the ruling, the Court found that “Texas’s specialty license plate designs constitute government speech, and thus Texas was entitled to refuse to issue plates featuring SCV’s proposed design