Wooley v. Maynard Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

Wooley v. Maynard | 430 U.S. 705 (1977)

New Hampshire’s state motto commands its residents to Live Free or Die. George Maynard disagreed, and challenged New Hampshire’s authority to make him advertise this slogan all the way to the United States Supreme Court in Wooley versus Maynard.

A New Hampshire state law required noncommercial vehicles to display license plates imprinted with the state’s motto. Passenger-vehicle license plates also bore particular combinations of letters and numbers that distinguished them from other types of vehicles. Maynard objected to displaying the motto on his plates on religious, moral, and political grounds. He covered up the motto with tape, violating another state law that prohibited knowingly obscuring the letters or numbers on any vehicle plate. Maynard was convicted of violating this statute three times.

Maynard sued Neal Wooley, chief of police of Lebanon, New Hampshire, in federal district court. Maynard argued that these statutes were unconstitutional and requested an injunction prohibiting the state from enforcing them against him. The district court granted the injunction, and Wooley appealed to the United States Supreme Court.

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