Score another victory for the Confederates.
In what surely has to be the irony of ironies, yet another federal judge has sided with the Sons of Confederate Veterans in the group's ongoing battle to distribute its "heritage" license plates.
Anything bearing the image of the Confederate battle flag is widely considered politically incorrect, if not akin to full-blown Nazism. And that's not just the jaundiced opinion of Northerners or liberals. Republican legislatures, including Florida's, have taken a similarly dim view.
But when lawmakers in Tallahassee failed to green-light a "Confederate Heritage" tag that had cleared all the necessary administrative hurdles at the Department of Motor Vehicles, U.S. District Judge John Antoon called them on it.
As first reported by Sunshine State News, the judge for the Middle District of Florida said the Legislature had conspired to create "a threat of censorship."
Antoon went on to chastise lawmakers for anointing themselves "unfettered discretion to engage in viewpoint discrimination when declining to approve a specialty license plate application." He branded their action "unconstitutional under the overbreadth doctrine."
But instead of ordering the state to go ahead and issue the Confederate plate, he left the Legislature to fix the underlying unconstitutional situation it had created in statute.
Republican leaders have not decided how they will respond.
"We are currently reviewing the ruling," said Katie Betta, spokeswoman for House Speaker Dean Cannon.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos was also keeping his powder dry. His office did not return a message seeking comment.
On the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, Florida's court clash echoes throughout the Old Confederacy. And everywhere the license plate battle has gone to federal court, the "Confederates" have won.
"The people of Florida ought to be outraged that the state is spending taxpayer dollars to fight this," says Brag Bowling, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Virginia.
Bowling recalls that when his group applied to issue a Confederate tag there, opponents warned that "fist fights and car wrecks" would ensue.
"None of that happened. It's not a big deal anywhere, but politicians can't get that through their skulls," he said. The Virginia case ended up at the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, which affirmed the lower court's ruling for the SCV.
Judge Antoon fell right in line with the appellate court decision. Calling the Florida plate case a First Amendment issue, his 23-page ruling excoriated the Legislature for "chilling free speech."
Until Florida lawmakers clear their legal thicket, the fate of several new specialty plates remains in limbo. Ultimately, the Confederates' victory could prove to be one that even hard-core left-wingers can savor.
For example, having approved a "Choose Life" license plate, how could legislators now say no to a "Pro-Choice" tag that satisfies the same administrative requirements at the Department of Motor Vehicles?
Finally, in a deliciously partisan footnote, the attorney representing the SCV was none other than Fred O'Neal, the founder of the Florida TEA Party. The Orlando lawyer has also won a string of cases against the Republican Party of Florida, which funded several unsuccessful court challenges to TEA candidates last fall.
Ah, the irony of it all.
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Contact the author of this column, Kenric Ward, at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
