Confederate flag Virginia vehicle license plates will be recalled by the DMV after a judge’s decision to dissolve an injunction forcing the flag to be on certain specialty license plates.
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Spokesmen for the DMV and for state Attorney General Mark Herring said Thursday evening that the government would immediately begin the process of recalling the plates and issuing newly designed plates to those who want them.
Back in 2001, federal Judge Jackson L. Kiser ruled that specialty license plates “conveyed the speech of the driver” and that the state could not deny the application of Sons of Confederate Veterans for a license plate that included the Confederate battle flag.
The heritage group won an injunction requiring it 15 years ago.
He added that “Virginia state government does not have to and will not endorse such a divisive symbol”.
Lawyers for the Confederate sons had said that not only does McAuliffe not have the power to make such an order, but that the Texas ruling does not necessarily apply to Virginia.
But the judge rejected that argument. The Sons of Confederate Veterans sued, and Kiser sided with the group.
At a hearing last week, Kiser said he would dismiss the case and grant the Commonwealth’s motion; today he issued the formal opinion and dismissal order. “Because the underlying injunction violates that right, I have no choice but to dissolve it”.
Their data analysis found that of the state’s 1,691 Confederate plates, our region has 397.
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In 1999, the General Assembly authorized the plates but prohibited any logo on the design.
