The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to rehear the case of South Carolina’s anti-abortion license plates.

The court in March upheld a ruling that the plates, which bear the slogan “Choose Life,” are unconstitutional. The judges ruled that the plates violate the First Amendment by giving anti-abortion advocates a forum to express their beliefs without giving abortion rights supporters a similar forum.

The state had filed a petition for a rehearing, but the appeals court denied that request Monday.

“I simply do not believe the state should use license plates to practice viewpoint discrimination,” Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote in the opinion. “Citizens are permitted to express their agreement with the officially sanctioned policy, but they have no similar outlet to express their disagreement with it.”

State Attorney General Henry McMaster was disappointed with the decision and would consider further appeals, spokesman Trey Walker said.

• Powerball winner hasn’t come forward

TOWNVILLE — The winning ticket from the $65.8 million Powerball drawing was bought at an I-85 truck stop in Anderson County, though the winner has not come forward, lottery officials said Monday.

The winning ticket with the numbers 9-17-32-41-47-Powerball-8 was bought between Wednesday and Saturday at the Spinx Sunoco Station off Exit 11 of I-85, Stewart Ellison, South Carolina Education Lottery regional sales manager for the Upstate, told the Anderson Independent-Mail.

Store manager Ronald Hurtado said about half of the people who buy lottery tickets at the truck stop are local residents and the other half are travelers from other states.

Lottery ticket sales dramatically increase when the prize money gets as high as it was for Saturday evening’s drawing, said Hurtado, who has worked at the store for nearly seven years.

Lottery officials have not heard from the winner, who has 180 days to claim the prize, but Ellison said sometimes winners consult financial advisers before coming forward to claim the money.

The winner will either get the money as an annuity paid during 30 years or a lump sum of about $34 million before state and federal taxes. The truck stop’s owner, Spinx Corp. of Greenville, gets $50,000 for selling the winning ticket, Ellison said.

• Harwell confirmed as U.S. district judge

CHARLESTON — The U.S. Senate has confirmed Florence attorney Robert Bryan Harwell as a U.S. district judge, U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings said.

Harwell, 44, will replace retiring U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck.

The Bush administration had nominated Harwell in January. Harwell, 44, is an attorney with Harwell, Ballenger, Barth, & Hoefer LLP, and has been in general practice for about 20 years in Florence. Most of his work involved civil litigation.

He has never been a judge.

Harwell is the son of former South Carolina Chief Justice David Harwell.

• Mental health board gets 3 new members

The governor has appointed three new members to the seven-member Mental Health Commission.

The new members are Alison Y. Evans, a licensed professional counselor from Hartsville, Jane B. Jones of Easley and Joan Moore of Goose Creek, the Mental Health Department said Monday.

Evans is a member of the Mental Health Association of South Carolina and has served as a chairwoman of that organization. Jones has served as a trustee at Bethesda United Methodist Church. Moore is a member of several civic organizations and has served as a president of the Berkeley County Republican Women.

The three are filling vacancies on the commission, said John Hutto, spokesman for the Mental Health Department. Two vacancies remain on the board, Hutto said.

Commission members are appointed to five year terms by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.

From Staff and Wire Reports