PHOENIX - Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund say they will appeal today's ruling by a federal district court judge that allowed officials in charge of Arizona's custom license plate program to deny a private organization's "Choose Life" license plate design on the grounds that it is state-sponsored speech.
"This is a terrible example of the Legislature's good intentions being twisted by self-serving bureaucrats," said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. "It's absurd to say that a program designed by state lawmakers to be an avenue for beneficial organizations to speak of their mission is somehow 'state speech.'"
"Furthermore, this is discriminatory and inconsistent," he added. "The Arizona Life Coalition's plate design is being singled out for rejection when scores of other designs have been approved without question. Government officials have exercised unlimited discretion to suppress the 'Choose Life' view, despite the fact that Arizona's own state interest is precisely the same."
In 2002, the Arizona Court of Appeals, in
Simat v. Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, stated that the state has a compelling and legitimate interest in "preserving and protecting potential life and promoting childbirth."
In today's order (
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/ALC_order.pdf), the court acknowledged that Arizona Life Coalition "does not promote a specific religion, faith, or anti-religious belief" and noted that the Arizona Department of Motor Vehicles determined that the coalition met all of the legal requirements for the program.
"Despite that, the License Plate Commission gave ALC's application the run-around for two years before ultimately denying it," said Center for Arizona Policy legal counsel Peter Gentala, co-counsel in the case. "The court waded into a difficult area of the law but sadly came to the wrong conclusion. We look forward to appealing this case."
Arizona Life Coalition submitted their original application in January 2002. After denial of their application, ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit
Arizona Life Coalition v. Stanton on behalf of the coalition in September 2003 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
ADF is America's largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org