Judge nixes license plate

Judge made right decision in finding state's “I Believe” license plate unconstitutional.

The state Legislature never should have approved an official “I Believe” license plate in the first place, nor should it have wasted the taxpayers' money defending an act that anyone with a passing knowledge of U.S. history easily would recognize as unconstitutional.

That was made crystal clear in a ruling released Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie, which stated that creation of the tag “amounts to state endorsement not only of religion in general, but of a specific sect in particular.”

The 57-page ruling was the result of a challenge to a state stature that had called for production of a state license plate featuring a large cross against a stained glass window and the words: “I Believe” Those who sued the state, challenging the license plate, included a retired Methodist minister from Columbia; a rabbi and the pastor of the First Christian Church in Charleston. Joining them in the suit were the Hindu American Foundation and the American-Arab-Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Judge Currie also addressed the pivotal role played by Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who originally pushed for the Christian license plate after an effort to create a similar “I Believe” tag failed in Florida.

“Whether motivated by sincerely held Christian beliefs or an effort to purchase political capital with religious coin, the result is the same,” Judge Currie wrote. “The statute is clearly unconstitutional and defense of its implementation has embroiled the state in unnecessary (and expensive) litigation.”

Currie has ordered the state to pay not only its own trial costs but also those of the litigants.

One does not have to be a constitutional scholar to realize that this effort by the state represented a clear case to promote Christianity. The case, in fact, could be used as a model for why our founding fathers wrote the First Amendment, which, among other things, protects against the establishment of an official state religion.

Bauer, who had no legal basis to refute the ruling, chose instead to attack Judge Currie, calling her a “liberal judge appointed by (President) Bill Clinton.” He also called the ruling “another attack on Christianity.”

That is nonsense. Judge Currie took the conservative stance of hewing to well established constitutional precepts. She wasn't attacking Christianity; she was protecting it from unlawful intrusion by the state.

Those who wanted a state license plate with the words “I Believe” on it had another option. State law allows private groups to apply for tags with a message, and more than 100 groups already have taken advantage of that option.

A faith-based group, the Palmetto Family Council, now plans to seek permission from the Department of Motor Vehicles to get the group its own plate with the words, “I Believe” on it. Even though the plate would have a religious message, it stands a better chance of being constitutional because a private group, not the state itself, is requesting the tag.

Judge Currie's ruling against the state-sponsored “I Believe” tag is not a blow against Christianity or even religion in general. It is a victory for the prohibition against attempts by the state to promote religion — in this case, one particular religion over all others.

And that is a victory for the U.S. Constitution and the American way of life.