Combine $60,000 with 30,000 resident signatures: So begins the war over the license plates.

The Florida chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, having met the criteria required to present the issue to the Florida Legislature, hopes to get approval this year for a “Confederate Heritage” license plate featuring the Confederate battle flag.

The Sons insist that the license plate is not meant to be racially derogatory but will honor the past.

Gov. Charlie Crist has said he doesn’t see the necessity of the license plate, according to an Associated Press article.

“I’d get it. ... It represents my heritage, and it’s not racist. It represents the South,” junior Amanda Houston said.

However, some students seem to have issues with the Sons’ suggestion. “I’d be upset because I don’t like what it represents,” freshman Amber Barnes said. “It’s a little racist.”

The plate raises the issue again of how far freedom of expression can go before it runs up against the legal system. Attachments to vehicles, whether a license plate or a bumper sticker, have been the basis for testing free speech.

Similar cases in the past reveal that often state governments have attempted to overrule “offensive” ideas plastered on cars and trucks through laws.

In 1999, Florida driver Laura Barron and Georgia resident James Cunningham were both cited and fined for bumper stickers containing offensive language under Florida and Georgia laws prohibiting obscene or profane stickers or emblems.Charges were eventually dropped in both cases.

Georgia Supreme Court officials agreed with Cunningham that the law was unconstitutional. “‘The peace of society,’” they said, “‘is not endangered by the profane or lewd word which is not directed at a particular audience.’”

The question is this: Do the Confederate license plates pose a threat to society? While some would agree that the plates have no place in Florida since they offend the sensibilities of many, the Sons are well on their way to making their idea a reality.