If you thought holiday miracles were restricted to December celebrations, then prepare to have your heart warmed.
Frank Shoemaker has a reason to give thanks this week after the Nebraska DMV respected his free speech rights - not to mention Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals precedent - and granted his request for a personalized license plate reading NE 420.
Shoemaker, a farmer and former lawyer, is sponsoring a petition drive for Proposition 19, a state ballot measure to legalize marijuana in Nebraska next year, reports Reuters.
Shoemaker and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) were having none of that nonsense, and filed a lawsuit against the Nebraska DMV last week alleging that the DMV was violating Shoemaker’s free speech rights. That, apparently, was enough to make Neth reconsider the state’s position.
Today, the Nebraska DMV agreed to issue the NE 420 license plate for Shoemaker’s 1970 Volkswagen bus.
The law was on Shoemaker’s side. In 2009, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Roach v. Stouffer that specialty license plates are a form of individual speech, thus censorship of license plate messages amounts to viewpoint discrimination.
Shoemaker is thankful that he can get out of the courthouse and back to the streets to promote Nebraska Prop 19. “I look forward to resuming my campaign. All I ever wanted was to work with fellow Nebraskans in the democratic process of this ballot campaign.” he said in the ACLU press release.
Related Resources:
- Man Sues Over Rejection Of NE420 License Plate (KETV)
- Foundation Wins Specialty License Plate Free Speech Rights Battle (FindLaw’s Second Circuit blog)
- Roach v. Stouffer (FindLaw’s CaseLaw)
You Don’t Have To Solve This on Your Own – Get a Lawyer’s Help
Civil Rights
Block on Trump’s Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court
Criminal
Judges Can Release Secret Grand Jury Records
Politicians Can’t Block Voters on Facebook, Court Rules
