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What's wrong with this vanity plate? According to Vermont, it's too religious, referring to John 3:16. Vermont is not allowing Shawn Byrne to register this vanity plate on the grounds that it contains a religious viewpoint....
I'm not exactly Christian, but when the government starts telling people they can't have a vanity plate that expresses their religion, I'm a little worried. "The state doesn't want to be in the business of endorsing a particular religion or deity," said Assistant Attorney General Harvey Golubock (from the Rutland Herald).
Since when does printing something a citizen wants on their plate mean the state is "endorsing" it? The point is, a few years ago the state decided to start allowing people to have "vanity plates." They did this because they generate revenue for the state ($30/year in addition to normal registration). This means you are allowed to put your name on the plate, your business, your nickname, or anything else you want. But then the state said, "except for certain things like religion."
Wrong. If the state is going to grant you freedom to put things on license plates, it certainly can not allow some things while rejecting others unless what you want printed is likely to incite a riot (like driving your car into a movie theater with the vanity plate, 'FIRE' printed on it). You could consider this a violation of freedom of speech, or even freedom of the press as it is a printed medium that is publicly owned, take your pick. Plus, this is infringing on this person's expression of religion, so it's a violation of the first amendment's freedom of religion as well. Now if only we protest this at the capitol until the National Guard is called in to break us up, we'll have the entire first amendment covered.
Finally, the real reason I'm upset about all this, is because this means I probably can't register the plate, "USTHE4S." Since it refers to a religion (some might say a hokey religion), it's right out.
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