PHOENIX — A federal court has ruled the Arizona License Plate Commission must approve a pro-life group’s “Choose Life” specialty license plate.
The Arizona Life Coalition applied for the specialty license plate in 2002, but the Arizona License Plate Commission, which oversees the requests, rejected its application.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Center for Arizona Policy filed a suit in September 2003.
“Pro-life groups shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs,” ADF senior counsel Gary McCaleb said.
Last January, the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the commission had violated the Arizona Life Coalition’s First Amendment right to free speech by rejecting its application. The commission appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision, but the high court refused to hear the case.
In a decision issued Nov. 19, U.S. District Judge Paul G. Rosenblatt ordered the commission to convene by Jan. 23 and approve the license plates.
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