McMaster is pandering

State should not waste any more money defending unconstitutional causes.

The ink was barely dry on a ruling by U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie saying the state's “I Believe” license plates are unconstitutional when state Attorney General Henry McMaster released a video decrying the ruling as the action of a liberal federal judiciary.

McMaster singled out the American Civil Liberties Union, which wasn't involved in the license plate case, saying he has told town councils and others around the state: “If the ACLU sues you, call me up. We'll defend you. We'll help you.”

He might have been more forthcoming if he had said: “We'll help you waste taxpayers' money on a hopeless, ill-conceived effort to defy the Constitution.”

That's exactly what McMaster did in the case of the Chester County town of Great Falls, which was sued by a local Wiccan over its town council prayers. A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2004 prohibited the Great Falls Town Council from opening its meetings with a prayer that mentions Jesus Christ.

McMaster filed a brief in the case, and the town appealed the case all the way to the Supreme Court, which refused to hear it. In the end, the town amassed tens of thousands of dollars in legal costs, all borne by the taxpayers, on a case that had no merit whatsoever.

The state's case involving the “I Believe” license plates was nearly as frivolous. It also was expensive, as specifically noted by Judge Currie, who ordered the state to pay the legal expenses for both sides in the case.

The legal challenge of the “I Believe” tags came about after the General Assembly voted to authorize production of a state license plate featuring a large cross against a stained-glass window and the words, “I Believe.” Judge Currie ruled that the license plate “amounts to state endorsement not only of religion in general, but of a specific sect in particular.”

She 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.

Bauer responded by trying to paint Currie as a “liberal judge appointed by (President) Bill Clinton.” McMaster, who, like Bauer, is a candidate for governor, might have been trying to one-up the lieutenant governor with his video, in which he complained that “liberals are using an increasingly sympathetic federal judiciary to rewrite our Constitution to ban any and all religious expression in our schools, our government and the public square.”

This is shameless pandering on the part of both McMaster and Bauer. The “I Believe” case practically defines what the Constitution means in its Establishment Clause regarding government promotion of one religion over another. It doesn't get much more blatant than a state legislature authorizing a state license plate that champions Christianity.

Instead of fanning the flames of ignorance, McMaster, who surely knows better, should be explaining why it is necessary to protect religion from intrusion by the state. We also hope the next governor, whoever that might be, would find better ways to spend scarce state revenues than on court cases that are destined to fail.