FREE SPEECH: Appeals Court Says Texas DMV Violated First Amendment. “Submitted in August 2009, the Texas Board initially voted to approve the specialty plate, but after fears circulated concerning the potentially offensive nature of the Confederate flag, a second vote was held and the plate was rejected. . . . Since Texas had not deemed all flag-bearing or war-commemorating plates impermissible, the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Board engaged in viewpoint discrimination by singling out the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ request for rejection.”