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Louisiana’s
Choose Life License plate, sponsored by Rep. Shirley Bowler, was authorized in the 1999 Regular Session of
the legislature and signed by Governor Mike Foster. One year
later, as the plates were just about to go into production, the New York
law firm, Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, filed a lawsuit to stop
the distribution of the plates. Federal
District Judge Stanwood Duval placed a temporary injunction preventing the
production and distribution of the plates.
On August 8, 2001, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments as to the district court's ruling that the State of Louisiana had violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by allowing only one side of a controversial issue to be represented on a state license plate. The State argued that the plate was not a public forum requiring all sides to be represented, but rather that the "Choose Life" message was state speech expressing Louisiana's preference for childbirth over abortion. The
plaintiffs also contended that the state has become excessively entangled with
religion by allowing several groups which hold to a Christian code of
conduct to give advice on the design of the plate and to help process
applications for the funds generated by the plate.
Judge Duval said in his original ruling on the injunction against
the plate that he did not see much merit in this particular argument. In
the 2001 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, Rep. Shirley Bowler
offered a bill to amend the current Choose Life license plate and remove
the Advisory Council. Two
days before the session was to end, Senator Diana Bajoie
attempted to amend that bill and create a “Choose Choice” license
plate with funding to benefit groups offering abortion counseling and
services such as Planned Parenthood.
The session ended before the bill could be passed by both houses in
any form On March 29, 2002, in a 2-1 decision, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiffs in the Choose Life License plate case had no standing and ordered the case back to the District court for dismissal. On April 12, 2002, the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy appealed to the 5th Circuit for an en banque (all judges on 5th Circuit) hearing. On August 9, 2002, the court denied their appeal. On August 15, 2002, the CRLP asked that the 5th Circuit maintain its injunction while they apply for a review of the case by the U.S. Supreme Court. The 5th Circuit denied the request. On September 30, 2002 the CRLP petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case. They also asked the Supreme Court to keep the injunction in place until a decision is made on the entire case. On October 7, 2002, it was announced that Justice Antonin Scalia, who is responsible for reviewing cases from the U.S. 5th Circuit court, refused to maintain the injunction. Finally, on October 14, 2002, the Supreme Court announced that all efforts to stay the injunction had failed. http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/02-523.htm This cleared the way for the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles to begin manufacturing and distributing the plates. Meanwhile, on October 9, 2002, District Judge Stanwood Duval had completely dismissed the case. 07/11/03 : Federal judge in New Orleans stopped the sale of all specialty plates in Louisiana!! The Department of Motor Vehicles stopped selling the plates pending a ruling as to whether the Judge will allow the plates to continue selling while the case is on appeal. 09/03/03 : Judge Duval issued another order in which he allowed the transfer of Choose Life plates to another vehicle. 10/10/03 - Fifth Circuit of Appeals refuses to lift injunction while appeal is pending. 04/07/04 - Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans hears the state's appeal of Judge Duval's decision in the lawsuit which challenged all of the specialty plates in Louisiana. 04/13/05 - 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dismisses the lawsuit against the Choose Life License Plate and all other specialty plates in Louisiana. Read the decision here . 04/03/06 - Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles begins again selling all specialty plates including Choose Life plate.
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