ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The Maryland House has passed a measure prohibiting the transfer or renewal of a license plate depicting the Confederate battle flag to another vehicle.
The House voted 131-8 on Thursday for the bill. It now goes to the Senate.
Maryland does not now offer plates with the Confederate battle flag. But prior to November, the Motor Vehicle Administration offered a Sons of Confederate Veterans organizational special registration plate that included it.
In October, a federal judge lifted a 1997 injunction preventing Maryland from removing plates from circulation. Maryland tried to recall the plates in the 1990s, but a judge at the time ruled they were protected under the First Amendment. In June, the Supreme Court ruled they were a form of government speech and could be rejected by states.
