THE NEW TOLERANCE: Court Rules Pro-Life Views Are “Patently Offensive,” Bans Choose Life License Plates in New York. “Judge Rosemary Pooler, a Clinton appointee, agreed with New York’s position in her majority opinion. She took this view even though she also ruled that license plates are private speech subject to First Amendment protections. Despite these protections, however, she said that so many New Yorkers could find a plate advocating an anti-abortion position ‘patently offensive’ that the DMV was justified in suppressing the speech.”