You Better Believe It: Christian license plate reportedly banned by U.S. District Court

Noah Joseph — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:40:00 EST

The proposed South Carolina plate would have looked something like Florida's (pictured above)

Last year, the South Carolina state legislature approved a bill to establish a Christian-themed license plate depicting a cross in front of a stained-glass window and bearing the words "I Believe". The vote spurred public advocacy groups into action, decrying the move as a violation of the separation of church and state.

According to the Associated Press, a similar bill in Florida failed to pass into law, and now a U.S. district court has struck down the license plate in South Carolina as a First Amendment violation. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie took specific aim at the state's Lt. Governor Andre Bauer, the driving force behind the initiative, calling the move "an effort to purchase political capital with religious coin."

In addition to banning the plate, Judge Currie also ordered the state to reimburse the legal expenses of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, two groups which fought against the initiative and were, if you'll pardon the pun, decidedly cross.

[Sources: The Associated Press; The New York Times]

You Better Believe It: Christian license plate reportedly banned by U.S. District Court originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Praise the Lord and pass the license plates

Dan Roth — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Trends, Etc., Government/Legal, Videos, Lifestyle

Christians looking to evangelize are understandably thrilled with the idea of "I Believe" license plates, nevermind that they may be unconstitutional. While the first amendment protects individuals rights to free speech, the cross and stained glass themed plates with the phrase "I Believe" across the bottom were cooked up by the South Carolina Senator Larry Grooms and endorsed unanimously by the state legislature, and a similar effort is underway in Florida. On those grounds, the plates may constitute a state sanctioning of one religion over another, and that raises the ire of non-Christians and free speech advocates. The group Americans United for Separation of Church and State tossed a yellow flag on the field and blew its lawsuit whistle to block these plates from seeing the light of day, spurring a respectfully blistering outpouring of "you'll burn in Hell, thank you" messages from plate supporters. The fight ensues, disenfranchised citizens or not, though we think these plates might be far more offensive to certain folks than the highly coveted WTF tags we all want here at Autoblog HQ. Video after the jump

[Source: Rawstory, Photo: Charleston.net]

Continue reading Praise the Lord and pass the license plates

Praise the Lord and pass the license plates originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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