Charles Carrico Sr. (Credit: http://billcarrico.us/)
RICHMOND, Va. -- A Virginia senator has filed a bill to re-instate the Confederate flag on license plates for members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Senator Charles Carrico Sr., a Republican of the 40th district in Southwest Virginia, filed the bill Tuesday.
His bill would amend current Sons of Confederate Veterans license plate legislation which states:
“no logo or emblem of any description shall be displayed or incorporated into the design of license plates issued under this section.”
The office of Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe sent CBS 6 a statement that read:
The Governor made it clear that there is no place for hurtful and divisive symbols on Virginia license plates. If legislation to return the Confederate flag to the plates passes, he will veto it the day it reaches his desk.
In June, McAuliffe ordered the Confederate flag be removed from Virginia state license plates. The flag is displayed on a specialty plate designed for the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
That announcement came in the wake of a racially-motivated fatal shooting at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the state of Texas was allowed to reject a license plate design that featured a Confederate battle flag.
At the time, lawyers for the Sons of Confederate Veterans said that not only did McAuliffe not have the power to make such an order, but that the Texas ruling did not necessarily apply to Virginia. In July, a Federal Judge ruled Virginia can ban the Confederate flag from state license plates.
Carrico's new proposal will head to the General Assembly in January.
