AM. CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NC v. TENNYSON

No. 13-1030.

815 F.3d 183 (2016)

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTH CAROLINA; Dean Debnam; Christopher Heaney; Susan Holliday, CNM, MSN; Maria Magher, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Nicholas J. TENNYSON, in his official capacity as Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Transportation; Kelly J. Thomas, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, Defendants-Appellants, and Thom Tillis, North Carolina Speaker of the House of Representatives; Phil Berger, President Pro Tempore of North Carolina Senate, Intervenors, and Michael Gilchrist, in his official capacity as Colonel of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Defendant. National Legal Foundation, Amicus Supporting Appellants.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

March 10, 2016.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

ARGUED: Kathryne Elizabeth Hathcock , North Carolina Department of Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellants. Christopher Anderson Brook , American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Roy Cooper , North Carolina Attorney General, Neil Dalton , Special Deputy Attorney General, North Carolina Department of Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellants. Scott W. Gaylord , Elon University School of Law, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Intervenors. Steven W. Fitschen , The National Legal Foundation, Virginia Beach, Virginia, for Amicus Curiae.

Reversed and remanded with instructions by published opinion. Chief Judge TRAXLER wrote the majority opinion, in which Judge RUSSELL joined. Judge WYNN wrote a dissenting opinion.


In our previous opinion in this case, we affirmed the decision of the district court and held that North Carolina's specialty license plate program violated the First Amendment. See ACLU v. Tata, 742 F.3d 563 (4th Cir.2014). The State sought review by the Supreme Court, which vacated...

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