Confederate license plate proposal may rise again

Confederate forces have charged into federal territory and are hailing as victory a recent U.S. District Court's decision in their struggle to get a specialty license plate pushed through the Florida Legislature.

Not so fast, state officials say, rumors of a decisive judicial victory are premature.

The controversial plate was applied for two years ago. It depicts four flags of the confederacy with "Confederate Heritage" printed below it. It is sponsored by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Florida.

The organization did all it was required to do. It paid the $60,000 fee, provided a survey that said some 30,000 people would eventually get the plates, submitted the proposal to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and waited. And waited.

New specialty license plates are subject to the approval of the Legislature. By law, lawmakers have "unfettered discretion" in approving specialty plates, and in this case, the Confederate Heritage plate didn't necessarily die on the battlefield, it faded away.

"The sponsoring legislator put it in front of the committee," said Fred O'Neal, a Windermere attorney representing the Sons in the lawsuit, "And the committee chairman said, 'Are you kidding?' It's a political football. Some people just don't want to touch it."

The quiet defeat didn't set well with the Sons, which hired O'Neal and filed the federal lawsuit in January naming as defendants the state motor vehicle department and the handful of legislators on the committee that let the plate die.

Last week, U.S. District Judge John Antoon, in an Orlando courtroom, handed down an order, dismissing the portion of the complaint against the legislators, saying they had "legislative immunity," but let stand the portion of the suit against the department.

"We're pretty optimistic," O'Neal said. "We're pretty confident that at the end of the day, we are going to get the court to order the director of the department to issue the plate."

That could happen by March, he said.

"In legal terms," he said, "that's pretty quick."

He still has to file a motion or two and make sure all the paperwork is in order, "but none of that is too difficult and we are feeling good at this point."

Not so fast, state officials said.

Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Ann Nucatola said the department has until Tuesday to respond to the court's order.

"The court's ruling was only a preliminary order," she said. "It just allows the case to move forward."

The court made no ruling on the constitutionality of the state's specialty plate laws, "nor was there any requirement for the plate to be issued," she said.

She admitted that people have been calling the department asking when they can purchase the Confederate Heritage plate.

The process that the plate proposal went through two years ago is still in place, she said. Nothing has been altered. The approval still must come from legislators.

"It's just another step in the litigation process," she said. The role of the department isn't discretionary, she said. Picking what plates to approve is a job for the Legislature.

"We assist in the process," she said. "We do not issue plates. We have no decision-making ability in this process."