I'm actually surprised it took this long. The group Americans United for Separation of Church and State has filed a lawsuit against the state of South Carolina over the religious-themed "I Believe" license plates. The suit was filed on behalf of several religious leaders, including "two Christian pastors, a humanist pastor and a rabbi in South Carolina, along with the Hindu American Foundation".

Rev. Barry Lynn, of Americans United, said the suit was filed because South Carolina's government is endorsing one religion, and that AU "would not have opposed the "I Believe" plates had they been advocated by private groups". In South Carolina, the law permits private organizations to create their own custom plates. All that is required is a deposit of $4,000, or 400 prepaid orders. What this means is that if, for example, the Really Big Church Coalition of South Carolina wanted to get the "I Believe" plates, as long as 400 of their members ponied up the cost of the plates, in advance, they could have gone ahead and placed an order with the Department of Motor Vehicles -- no endorsement needed at all by the state government.

Instead, a few legislators decided get this bill passed, and now South Carolina is going to have to spend taxpayer money defending themselves against a lawsuit that could have been prevented, had they just followed their own rules in the first place.

 

License Plate Lawsuit Brings More Arguing