June 20, 2008
Source: The New York Times
An organization that advocates for the separation of church and state filed a federal lawsuit Thursday asking that South Carolina not be allowed to produce license plates that feature a Christian cross with the phrase “I Believe.”
The license plate was approved unanimously by the state’s Legislature earlier this year, and Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican, allowed the bill to become law, but without his signature.
The group, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, filed the lawsuit in Columbia, S.C., on behalf of three Christian clergy members, a rabbi and a Hindu group from the state, arguing that the license plates violated the Constitution.