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<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
MadisonCenter@aol.com [mailto:MadisonCenter@aol.com]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday,
March 17, 2006 3:56 PM<BR><B>To:</B> MadisonCenter@aol.com<BR><B>Subject:</B>
Sixth Circuit Finds Tennessee “Choose Life” License Plate
Constitutional<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT id=role_document face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG>Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom</STRONG><BR>1 South 6th
Street<BR>Terre Haute, IN 47807-3510</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>PRESS RELEASE <BR>Friday, March 17, 2006<BR></STRONG>Contact:
James Bopp, Jr.<BR>Phone 812/232-2434; Fax 812/235-3685; <A
href="mailto:jboppjr@aol.com">jboppjr@aol.com</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG>Sixth Circuit Finds Tennessee “Choose Life” License
Plate Constitutional</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Today, in ACLU, et al. v. Bresden, et al., No. 04-6393 (6th Cir. March 17,
2006), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that Tennessee's
"Choose Life" specialty license plate was government speech and, as such, was
constitutional under the First Amendment. As authorized by Tennessee statute,
50% of the money used to purchase the plate is to be provided to New Life
Resources, Inc., the Appellants in the case, to assist women who carry their
children to term. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The challenge to the Tennessee “Choose Life” license plate program was
brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, Planned Parenthood
of America and its state affiliate, and two Tennessee citizens, who claimed to
wish to purchase “Pro Choice” license plates. The suit claimed that the
Choose Life plate statute and the Tennessee specialty license program create a
“limited public forum” within which the State practice “viewpoint
discrimination” without violating the First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution. Because Tennessee refused to enact a Pro Choice license
plate law, but enacted a Choose Life plate law, the plaintiffs alleged that it
engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Represented by attorneys with Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, New Life
Resources argued that a public forum for individual speech was not created by
the license plate program, but rather was a byproduct of government speech. The
Sixth Circuit agreed with New Life Resources and reversed the district court,
finding that the program provides funds for abortion alternatives and other
legitimate purposes and that the “Choose Life” message was governmental
speech. “So long as Tennessee sets the overall message and approves its
details,” the Court wrote, “the message must be attributed to Tennessee for
First Amendment purposes.”</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>James Bopp, Jr., lead counsel for New Life Resources, states that “this
victory allows the government to advertise a Pro Life message without having to
also endorse a Pro Choice position in its social and educational program.” “The
‘Choose Life’ message,” Bopp continues, “is similar to messages like ‘Don’t
Smoke’ or ‘Don’t Do Drugs.’” Governmental speech can take a selective
position on issues that the government cannot take toward private speech.
<BR> <BR>Statutes have been enacted specifically
permitting production of Choose Life license plates in Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, and
Tennessee. Court challenges to these statutes have been made by advocates of Pro
Choice license plate availability have been launched against the Louisiana,
Florida, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee statutes. All these challenges
claim that the State cannot constitutionally approve Choose Life plates without
also approving “Pro Choice” plates.<BR>This ruling means that all of these
Choose Life plates are constitutional.<BR>____________________<BR>To unsubscribe
from this e-mail list, please send an e-mail message with “UNSUBSCRIBE” as the
subject to: <A
href="mailto:cbostrom@bopplaw.com">cbostrom@bopplaw.com</A></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>