License plate censorship challenged in highest court

A Chicago-based public-interest law firm is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to crack down on censorship of statements by the pro-life movement, specifically the request to have a "Choose Life" specialty license plate in Illinois.

The case could provide one of the first opportunities for the high court to comment directly on the abortion-promoting position President Obama has adopted, since he played a role in the development of the case at hand.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that authorities in Arizona were not allowed to censor a "Choose Life" message from a program that allows special interest groups to obtain license plates with their slogans.

But a ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, the Thomas More Society noted.

"We expected that this issue would have to be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court," said Tom Brejcha, president of the Thomas More Society and chief counsel for the case.

"The right of Arizona citizens to purchase 'Choose Life' specialty plates was recently upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that denial of the plates constituted 'viewpoint discrimination.' The 7th Circuit held the contrary, yet the First Amendment must mean the same thing throughout the entire United States."...

...Obama, then an Illinois state senator, became involved when state officials were building roadblocks for the "Choose Life" campaign. To defeat the request, related bills introduced in the Illinois General Assembly were diverted to a special subcommittee, where they died without any hearings.

The committee was headed at that time by Obama...