United States Ninth Circuit

The Arizona License Plate Commission violated plaintiff's First Amendment right to free speech in denying its application for a special Arizona organization license plate that would portray its message "Choose Life". Through its special organization license plate program, Arizona has created a limited public forum for all nonprofit organizations that meet the state's statutory requirements. Thus, because the Commission denied plaintiff's application on grounds not specified in the statute or related to the limited purpose of the license plate forum, it acted unconstitutionally.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/15/2007
• Decided 01/28/2008
• Published 01/28/2008

Judges

• TALLMAN, Circuit Judge:, Before:  DAVID R. THOMPSON and RICHARD C. TALLMAN, Circuit Judges, and KEVIN THOMAS DUFFY, Senior United States District Judge.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Jeffrey A. Shafer (argued), Alliance Defense Fund, Washington, D.C.;  Benjamin W. Bull, Alliance Defense Fund, Scottsdale, AZ;  Peter A. Gentala, The Center for Arizona Policy, Scottsdale, AZ;  Gary S. McCaleb, Alliance Defense Fund, Scottsdale, AZ, for the plaintiffs-appellants., Denise M. Burke, Women's Choice Pregnancy Clinic, Chicago, IL, for the amicus curiae.


• For Appellees:
  
• Daniel P. Schaack (argued), Assistant Attorney General, Phoenix, AZ;  James R. Morrow, Assistant Attorney General, Liability Management Section, Phoenix, AZ, for the defendants-appellees.