June 25, 2015<\/p>\n
Secretary Pete Rahn
\nMaryland Department of Transportation
\nOffice of the Secretary
\n7201 Corporate Center Drive
\nP.O. Box 548
\nHanover, MD. 21076<\/p>\n
Milton Chaffee
\nMotor Vehicle Administrator
\n6601 Ritchie Highway NE
\nGlen Burnie, MD 21062<\/p>\n
Dear Secretary Rahn and Administrator Chaffee:<\/p>\n
As you know, the Supreme Court held last week in Walker v. Sons of Confederate Veterans that states can exclude the Confederate flag from government specialty license plate programs. Consequently, we request that you use your authority to reinstate Maryland’s previous policy of not including the Confederate battle flag in specialty license plate designs.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court determined that these programs reflect expressions of government speech and therefore do not constitute an open forum for private speech within the meaning of the First Amendment. Our high court has thus transformed the meaning of messages contained in our specialty license plates into Maryland government speech, and these plates now inevitably carry the imprimatur and symbolic prestige of our state government and our people.<\/p>\n
Given this understanding, we should not include the Confederate battle flag\u2014the nation\u2019s leading symbol of secession, armed rebellion against the U.S. government, slavery and racism–in our specialty license plate program. To be sure, every symbol has multiple connotations, and not everyone who displays the flag means the same thing by it. But there is no doubt that for millions of Marylanders, the Confederate battle flag\u2019s meaning is reasonably and uniquely identified with the history of slavery, white supremacy, and racial violence. In the 20th century, after Brown v. Board of Education was decided, the flag was resurrected as a symbol of Jim Crow segregation and violent opposition to the Civil Rights Movement.<\/p>\n
The policy question of whether to issue Confederate flag plates arose in Maryland in 1996. Back then the Motor Vehicles Administration decided to recall Maryland license plates that had been issued with Confederate flags on them. This action was struck down by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on free speech grounds in a decision now effectively overruled by the Supreme Court. We therefore urge you to work with the MVA to reinstate its former policy on this issue and exclude the use of the Confederate insignia on state license plates.<\/p>\n
We hope that you will undertake a prompt review of the situation and conclude that the state of Maryland has both the legal authority and a clear reason to disassociate ourselves from a symbol that may reasonably be regarded as a \u201cbadge and incident\u201d of slavery within the meaning of the Thirteenth Amendment.<\/p>\n
Sincerely,<\/p>\n
Senator Jamie Raskin
\nSenator Catherine Pugh
\nSenator James \u201cEd\u201d DeGrange
\nSenator Brian Feldman
\nSenator Bill Ferguson
\nSenator Lisa Gladden
\nSenator Guy Guzzone
\nSenator Susan Lee
\nSenator Cheryl Kagan
\nSenator Nancy King
\nSenator Jim Mathias
\nSenator Nathaniel McFadden
\nSenator Rich Madaleno
\nSenator Roger Manno
\nSenator Karen Montgomery
\nSenator Anthony Muse
\nSenator Shirley Nathan-Pulliam
\nSenator Paul Pinsky
\nSenator Victor Ramirez
\nSenator Jim Rosapepe
\nSenator Bobby Zirkin<\/p>\n
Delegate Barbara Robinson
\nDelegate David Moon
\nDelegate Angela Angel
\nDelegate Vanessa Atterbeary
\nDelegate Ben Barnes
\nDelegate Erek Barron
\nDelegate Pam Beidle
\nDelegate Al Carr
\nDelegate Jill Carter
\nDelegate Mark Chang
\nDelegate Luke Clippinger
\nDelegate Bonnie Cullison
\nDelegate Kathleen Dumais
\nDelegate Eric Ebersole
\nDelegate Diana Fennell
\nDelegate David Fraser-Hidalgo
\nDelegate Bill Frick
\nDelegate Ana Sol Gutierrez
\nDelegate Anne Healey
\nDelegate Shelly Hettleman
\nDelegate Sheila Hixson
\nDelegate Anne Kaiser
\nDelegate Ariana Kelley
\nDelegate Tony Knotts
\nDelegate Marc Korman
\nDelegate Ben Kramer
\nDelegate Clarence Lam
\nDelegate Karen Lewis Young
\nDelegate Brooke Lierman
\nDelegate Eric Luedtke
\nDelegate Aruna Miller
\nDelegate Marice Morales
\nDelegate Dan Morhaim
\nDelegate Joseline Pena-Melnyk
\nDelegate Shane Pendergrass
\nDelegate Andrew Platt
\nDelegate Kirill Reznik
\nDelegate Shane Robinson
\nDelegate Sandy Rosenberg
\nDelegate Sheree Sample-Hughes
\nDelegate Will Smith
\nDelegate Dana Stein
\nDelegate Charles Sydnor III
\nDelegate Jimmy Tarlau
\nDelegate Frank Turner
\nDelegate Kris Valderamma
\nDelegate Geraldine Valentino-Smith
\nDelegate Jeff Waldstreicher
\nDelegate Alonzo Washington
\nDelegate Mary Washington
\nDelegate Pat Young
\nDelegate Craig Zucker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
June 25, 2015 Secretary Pete Rahn Maryland Department of Transportation Office of the Secretary 7201 Corporate Center Drive P.O. Box 548 Hanover, MD. 21076 Milton Chaffee Motor Vehicle Administrator 6601 Ritchie Highway NE Glen Burnie, MD 21062 Dear Secretary Rahn and Administrator Chaffee: As you know, the Supreme Court held last week in Walker v. … Continue reading Updated Letter Against Confederate Flag License Plates<\/span>