North Carolina Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. v. North Carolina Department of Transportation, et al.
1. Did the district court and Fourth Circuit
Court of Appeals err in applying the "Government
Speech" doctrine to limit the speech of private citizens
and organizations participating in a specialty license
plate program which originated in a statute that did
not vest the government agency with any discretion
with regard to the eligibility of civic groups or the design of the civic group's emblem?
2. Did the district court and Fourth Circuit
Court of Appeals err in failing to apply the public forum doctrine to a specialty license plate program
which originated in a statute which did not vest the
government agency with any discretion with regard to
the design of such specialty plates other than to ensure
the readability of such plates?
8. Did the district court and Fourth Circuit
Court of Appeals err in applying the "Government
Speech" doctrine where there was an adequate and independent state law basis which did not implicate the
Constitution to hold that the NC-DMV exceeded its authority by denying members of Petitioner the ability to
obtain and display a specialty license plate?
Did the district court and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals err in applying the 'Government Speech' doctrine?