N.J. Officials Approve ‘8THEIST’ License Tag To Settle AU-Led Lawsuit

[rug]

October 2016
By Rokia Hassanein

Shannon Morgan was merely trying to personalize her license plate to “8THEIST” when officials in New Jersey rejected it because they deemed it “objectionable.”

The incident occurred in November 2013, and it took Morgan, a Leesburg, N.J., resident, by surprise. At the time, she thought the rejection was a technical problem, but it wasn’t. New Jersey officials’ reasoning was that an “8THEIST” plate “may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency.”

Curious, Morgan put “BAPTIST” into a state-run online system to see if a plate like that would win approval. It did.

Morgan turned to Americans Uni­ted for help. Attempts to resolve the matter outside of court failed, and in April of 2014, AU filed a lawsuit in federal court on her behalf.

In its Morgan v. Martinez filing, Americans United alleged that the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission’s actions discriminated against atheists and that the state of New Jersey promoted religion over atheism – violating Morgan’s First Amendment right to express her non-belief.

http://blog.au.org/church-state/october-2016-church-state/featured/plate-shift

[Cartoonist]

1. An actual plate in CA

S810IST

[Auggie]

2. There was once a "6ULDV8" in CA

The great Herb Caen mentioned it in his column.

6 = "sex", BTW.

[Cartoonist]

3. Herba Buena

It was in Herb's column that I read about that plate. It bothered a priest in the trailing car.

[cleanhippie]

4. This a good example of "religious liberty".