First Amendment - Freedom of Speech - Government Speech - Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc

• Published in: Harvard law review Vol. 129; no. 1; p. 221
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Harvard Law Review Association 01.11.2015
• Subjects: Approval; Automobiles; Boundaries; Constitutional amendments; Constitutional government; Courts; Drunk driving; First Amendment-US; Freedom of speech; License plates; Political participation; Political systems; Speech; Supreme Court decisions; United States; Veterans; United States > US
• ISSN: 0017-811X; 2161-976X

The Supreme Court's government speech doctrine offers a constitutional escape hatch -- a means by which government and courts may disregard the boundaries that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment would otherwise impose. So long as the government comports with other constitutional requirements, it may regulate its own speech however it wishes, even when that speech involves the expression of private individuals. Texas gives its citizens a choice: a driver can either display an ordinary Texas license plate on her vehicle, choose from an assortment of specialty plate designs created by the State, or, if none of these fits her taste, design her own license plate. These privately sponsored designs are subject to approval by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board. Existing specialty plates feature the logos and mottos of, among many other things, the Florida Gators, the Girl Scouts, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.