Judges ruled on Tuesday that the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles violated the First Amendment when it rejected The Children First Foundation’s application to sponsor a “Choose Life” specialty license plate as part of a state program, ordering the state to approve the plate application.
The N.Y. DMV had denied the foundation’s plate design, displaying a crayon drawing of a yellow sun and two smiling children with the words “Choose Life” written across the bottom, stating that many would find the design “offensive.”
“Pro-adoption organizations have the right to a specialty license plate on the same terms as any other organization, and the court’s decision affirms that,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeff Shafer said in a statement.
“The state is not authorized to censor The Children First Foundation for its life-affirming viewpoint, but it has gotten away with doing so for 10 years now since the application was first submitted.”
CFF, a nonprofit organization that promoted adoption as a choice for women with unwanted pregnancies or newborns, first applied for a custom plate through the DMV’s specialty plate program in 2001.
