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Federal judge upholds confederate flag ban on new Va. license plates

Posted at 12:54 PM, Jul 31, 2015
and last updated 2015-07-31 19:23:36-04

DANVILLE, Va. – FederalJudge Jackson Kiser ruled in court Friday that Virginia can ban the confederate flag from state license plates.

There will be a ban on new plates, but it is unclear what will be done with the existing plates which display the battle flag.

The judge may consider a recall in the future.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) had fired back against the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) plan to replace the group’s vanity license plates featuring the Confederate flag.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued the order to the DMV in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling in a Texas case that he said helped authorize his decision.

Lawyers for the Confederate sons had said that not only does McAuliffe not have the power to make such an order, but that the Texas ruling does not necessarily apply to Virginia.

"This ruling will allow Virginia to remove a symbol of oppression and injustice from public display on its license plates," said Attorney General Mark Herring. "Virginia state government does not have to and will not endorse such a divisive symbol. I appreciate Governor McAuliffe's leadership in calling for the removal of the flag and those on my team who moved quickly to get it done."

Judge Kiser's ruling will not be official until he enters his order, which will also address whether the decision will apply prospectively to new license plates, or retroactively to include existing ones.

A recent story by the Richmond Times Dispatch states that the Richmond and Tri-Cities region has the most Confederate heritage supporters.

Their data analysis found that of the state’s 1,691 Confederate plates, our region has 397. Chesterfield County topped the RTD list with 111 plates, while Hanover had the second highest amount. Continuing reading here.

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