article_snippet: But a state motor vehicle board turned down a request by the Texas division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for a license plate with a state motor vehicle board logo bearing the battle flag, similar to plates issued by eight other states that were members of the Confederacy, as well as Maryland.
article_snippet: Pictured above is the design of a proposed Sons of Confederate Veterans license plate.  
article_snippet: Texas commemorates the Confederacy in many ways, but Texas says that putting the battle flag on license plates would offend many Texans who believe the battle flag on license plates is a racially charged symbol of repression.
article_snippet: The same image is etched on a century-old Civil War monument on the grounds of the state Capitol in Austin.
article_snippet: Sons of the Confederate Veterans claim that Texas is violating the group's First Amendment right of freedom of speech by not allowing Sons of the Confederate Veterans to have Sons of the Confederate Veterans logo, bearing the battle flag on license plates, on license places (file photo)
article_snippet: Texas's main argument to the Supreme Court is that the license plate is not like a bumper sticker slapped on the car by the car driver.
article_snippet: Instead, Texas said license plates are government property, and so what appears on government property is not private individuals' speech but the government's.
article_snippet: Sons of the Confederate Veterans claim on the group's website that it  'is preserving the history and legacy of these heroes so that future generations can understand the motives that animated the Southern Cause' Even if the Supreme Court disagrees that license plates are government speech, Texas said Texas rejection of the Sons of Confederate Veterans license plate was not discriminatory.
article_snippet: The motor vehicle board had not approved a plate denigrating the Confederacy or the battle flag so The motor vehicle board could not be accused of giving voice to one viewpoint while suppressing another, Texas said.
article_snippet: The ACLU suggested the court view license plates as a mix of private and government speech.
article_snippet: Eleven states are supporting Texas because Eleven states fear that a ruling against Texas would call into question license plates that promote national and state pride and specific positions on such controversial issues as abortion.
highlights_snippet: Nine other states allow  Sons of Confederate Veterans logo bearing flag .
  
highlights_snippet: Texas officials argue that the plates are government property, and what's on Texas officials is not private individuals' speech but the government's .
  Sons of Confederate Veterans claim that state violated the group's First Amendment rights .
  