“A guy in New Hampshire was imprisoned for deliberately obscuring the words “Live Free Or Die” which have been featured on the state’s license”
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I could actually see some basis for not allowing that, but not to punish the guy the way they did.A 50-100 $ fine would have been more than enough.
I believe obscuring/defacing/covering your plates in general is a no-no, since LE needs to be able to make a car. While I expect they would still have been able to see the guy’s license plate number, it’s kind of a case of where you draw the line.
Displaying or defacing a message on a license plate is free speech.
Serving at public at large isn’t. You aren’t allowed to discriminate on proscribed grounds.
Unfortunately, Christian businesses don’t get a religious objection ground to discriminate.
IIRC SCOTUS ruled that the words "Live Free Or Die" were not essential in helping police identify a car or a driver.On my plates,for example,the state's name is on top,then just below are the characters unique to *my* car which allow the police to identify it and below that,at the bottom,are the words "The Spirit Of America".
Given that I believe my state to be "The Spirit Of Venezuela" I take *strong* exception to the words at the bottom.So now both my plates clearly show the state's name and the characters below...but not that filthy,offensive claim at the bottom.
I can easily understand why these guys would be outraged at being forced to make a statement of support for something they find profoundly immoral.