Source: www.thesunnews.com
August 8, 2009: South Carolina’s top prosecutor, Attorney General Henry McMaster, argued in a memo Friday that the contested “I Believe” license plate–which features images of a stained-glass window and a cross–does not promote Christianity over other religions or atheism.
He noted that South Carolina’s more than 100 specialty plates include one that says “In Reason We Trust,” which a secular humanist group sponsored. “The plate is a personal statement of the motorist, not the state,” he wrote.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued state officials last year, saying the government’s approval of the plates was an endorsement of Christianity–and therefore a violation of the First Amendment.
The current issue appears to be not the “I Believe” plate itself, but the fact that it was specifically approved by the legislature: “The Christian-only religious specialty plate is the only religious one the legislature put its stamp of approval on,” Stevens said. She also pointed out that since license plates are the property of the state, they should not promote any particular religion.