The Supreme Court has shut down the case of the Sons of Confederate Veterans against the state of North Carolina by declining to hear an appeal of a ruling affirming a decision to stop issuing Confederate flag license plates. 

The veterans' group had argued that the state was infringing on their free speech by ending the issuance of the license plates, but the lower court ruling said it was the state's speech and not an individual free speech issue.

The group said it aims to preserve historic sites and doesn't endorse any discrimination or politics around the Confederate flag.

Groups in the state are able to create specialty plates if they meet certain requirements, but in 2021 the state decided not to let the veterans group issue plates bearing the Confederate flag anymore.

Similar case

The group may be allowed to create plates that don't feature the flag, the state said, but the flag image "is offensive to good taste and decency."

Four justices would have had to vote to hear the case, but it was declined with no comment.

The case was similar to one in Texas in 2015 that also decided specialty plates are government speech, not individual speech.

The 5-4 Texas decision was dissented from by Justices Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts at the time.

Seems consistent

The Court is being consistent, however. In 2016, it ruled that North Carolina had no obligation to issue a pro-choice license plate just because it began to issue "Choose Life" plates.

The ACLU had sued the state in that case, but it lost just like the Sons of Confederate Veterans did. In all of these cases, it is the state's purview to decide what plates it will issue and what rules will govern specialty plates.

It makes sense, and seems like the law is being evenly applied in all cases.

People can certainly put Confederate flag stickers, flags and other paraphernalia on their cars if they want to, in North Carolina or any state.

When governments start banning that stuff, then they will be infringing on people's personal speech.

A number of major retailers including Walmart, Target, Ebay, and Apple have stopped selling or carrying Confederate flag items, making it more difficult for consumers who want to buy them. While it doesn't seem right to force a retailer to sell merchandise, another principle to consider is whether it constitutes infringement on people's rights to have the items if they can't reasonably procure them.