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Confederate flag can stay
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Confederate flag can stay
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The state of Maryland cannot ban special license plates bearing the Confederate battle flag, a federal judge in Baltimore ruled Monday.
The flag is part of the logo of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who were one of some 300 non-profit organizations to be issued special state license tags. But the state recalled the 78 Sons of Confederate Veterans tags in January after African-American state legislators complained.
In a 20-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Smalkin chastised the state for recalling the tags, saying it had violated First Amendment guarantees of free speech.
The case involved "a remarkable element of historical irony," the judge said.
"It (the flag) says to me, 'If I could put you back in your place, I would.'" -- Emmet Burns
Arthur Twigg Sons of Confederate Veterans
(For years) the First Amendment restricted only the actions of the federal government. It took a war -- the Civil War -- to extend the strictures of the First Amendment to state governments," he wrote. "Without the Civil War, the ghosts of which pervade this case, there would not have been a Fourteenth Amendment, the vehicle through which the Bill of Rights has been applied to the states."
"The genius of the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment is the protection of minorities from majoritarian tyranny," and in this case should protect the Sons of Confederate Veterans from their detractors, the judge said.
A spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans praised the decision, while the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration withheld comment until its attorneys had reviewed Smalkin's ruling.
War between the plates
The Sons of Confederate Veterans -- a historical and educational organization -- said in court documents it was dedicated not to racial bigotry, but to "preserve and protect Confederate and Southern heritage."
"It means a lot to me," group member Arthur Twigg said about the flag in the group's logo. "My ancestors carried that flag into battle."
Twigg said the flag -- and the Confederacy -- were part of the history and heritage of the United States.
"We know now in this 20th century to look back on our history and maybe never make the same mistakes again," he said.
But Maryland State Delegate Emmett Burns disagreed.
"Skunks stink," Burns said. "This flag is a skunk."
The flag, Burns said, sends "a very negative" statement to black Americans.
"It says to me, 'if I could put you back in your place I would,'" he said.
Burns' opinion echoed the state of Maryland's legal arguments in the case -- that the flag is "hostile, racially divisive and a symbol of bigotry and racial degradation."
But Smalkin agreed with the Sons of Confederate Veterans that such symbols were protected by the Constitution.
"If you're a racist, you're a racist," said historian Anthony Cohen, also a member of the group. "I think Americans should attack racism and not symbols."
Correspondent Louise Schiavone contributed to this report.