Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. v. Hogan

This case challenged the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration’s decision to revoke the affinity-group license plates of members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which included the Confederate battle flag, as part of a program under which a non-profit organization could obtain, for a fee, tags with the organization’s insignia. In 1997, we filed an amicus brief together with the ACLU of Maryland, supporting the Sons Confederate Veterans on the ground that the government should not discriminate against symbols or messages it disfavored. The federal district court agreed, and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the state from revoking the tags and ordering it to continue issuing new ones to members of the group, on request.

 

But in July 2015, the Attorney General of Maryland filed a motion to vacate the 1997 judgment and dissolve the injunction, on the ground that the Supreme Court’s June 2015 decision in Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., holding that such license plates are government speech, makes it clear that the 1997 decision is no longer good law. The Court vacated its decision and the injunction was dissolved. The Maryland DMV will be recalling the license plates; however, the Sons are free to use bumper stickers displaying the Confederate flag in even larger size.