In the case of Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas did not violate the First Amendment when it rejected a proposed specialty license plate design featuring a Confederate flag. The Sons of Confederate Veterans had submitted an application for this design to be included in Texas's specialty license plate program but was denied by the state's Department of Motor Vehicles Board due to public concerns about promoting offensive imagery and messages associated with racism and hate groups. The group sued on grounds that their free speech rights were violated by this decision; however, the court held in a 5-4 ruling that since license plates are government property and constitute government speech rather than private speech, states have discretion over which designs they approve or reject without violating constitutional protections for freedom of expression.

In the dissenting opinion for Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., Justice Samuel Alito argued that the majority's decision violated First Amendment principles by allowing government censorship based on viewpoint discrimination. He contended that specialty license plates represent private speech, not government speech as suggested by the majority. The state of Texas had rejected a proposed design featuring a Confederate flag from the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), citing potential offense to some citizens. However, Alito pointed out inconsistencies in this reasoning since other approved designs could also be seen as controversial or offensive to certain groups. He further noted that if all messages conveyed on specialty plates are deemed government speech then it would mean endorsing contradictory viewpoints simultaneously which is illogical and impractical for any speaker including governments themselves.