Civil Liberties

Anti-War Shirt Banned

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The Arizona Senate has unanimously passed a resolution banning the "Bush Lied, They Died" t-shirts from sale in the state. The shirts include the names of hundreds of U.S. troops killed in Iraq in fine print, which legislators apparently find unseemly, and which they say makes the shirts commercial speech, instead of political speech, which the Supreme Court says enjoys more First Amendment protection.

I have a hard time believing that argument will hold up in court. The shirts are pretty clearly political speech. The message itself isn't commercial at all. Under this standard, states could ban the sale of any shirt with a message the government doesn't like.

The shirts have already been banned in Oklahoma and Louisiana, and Rep. David Dan Boren is pushing legislation for a federal ban. Buy yours here.