South Carolina first to get 'I Believe' license plates

[megimoo]

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina's lieutenant governor announced Thursday that he is willing to put up $4,000 of his own money so his state can become the first in the nation to issue "I Believe" license plates with the image of a cross and a stained glass window.

The legislation allowing the plates was one of several religious-themed bills to became laws in the closing days of the state's legislative session.

The bills mean South Carolinians attending local government meetings could soon see the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer posted on walls, pray without fear of being sued and drive home in cars with the "I Believe" plates.

Civil rights groups are considering lawsuits. An attorney for the New York-based American Jewish Congress, Mark Stern, said the bills are an obvious endorsement of religion by legislators in an election year. His group is looking to sue over the plates.

Gov. Mark Sanford allowed the license plate bill to become law without his signature, noting the state already has a process to allow special plates for any cause as long as enough people come together and put up the money needed to buy them.

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said Thursday he is willing to put up the money, then get reimbursed. The state must collect either a $4,000 deposit or 400 prepaid orders.

Bauer helped push the measure through the General Assembly, saying it gives people a way to express their beliefs. The idea came from Florida, where a proposal for an "I Believe" tag ultimately failed.

"I'm all about freedom of speech," Bauer said.
http://www.examiner.com/a-1438626~SC...se_plates.html

[SaintLouieWoman]

God bless South Carolina. :)

[Elspeth]

God bless South Carolina. :)

I'm relieved. I thought it was an Obama license plate!

[Apocalypse]

Civil rights groups are considering lawsuits. An attorney for the New York-based American Jewish Congress, Mark Stern, said the bills are an obvious endorsement of religion by legislators in an election year. His group is looking to sue over the plates.

And the count down until the ACLU leaps in on this, and every liberal is highly offended by such displays.

[noonwitch]

I'm curious, because in Michigan, the specialty plates are set up with the higher fees, with the purpose of raising money for the cause or school that the plate commemorates-there's a children's plate, a wildlife plate, a veteren's plate and one for each of the state colleges and universities.

Are these plates going to raise money for churches? I don't have a problem if they raise money for a faith-based charity, like the Salvation Army, but I would think that it would cross a major line if the plate raised money for church congregations.

[linda22003]

I don't care what license plates say as long as the people interested in having affinity plates are paying for them, and I, the taxpayer, am not.

[Cold Warrior]

So when are they going to issue plates with "Enshalla" and the red crescent? And, if the answer is, "when enough people want it, or are willing to pay for it," be careful. I would guess that's already true in, for example, noonwitch's part of the country.

I don't see any problem with this kind of activity, as long as those supporting it are willing to acknowledge that there will be other groups that want to express themselves in the same way.

[LibraryLady]

I think this whole thing is out of control. I don't want to be driving on the Interstate, distracted by someone's license plate. Surely it interferes with getting the plate numbers at crime scenes and accidents.

[Space Gravy]

God bless South Carolina. :)

Other than the Hilton Head area I don't think he has.

[Gingersnap]

Colorado may have the largest number of specialty plates, we have over 100 styles. I have the Columbine plate style myself. This was designed in the aftermath of the Columbine school shootings and the fees go to the Columbine Victim's Fund. Of course, like everybody else, I bought them for the "Respect Life" wording which is basically just a code for "Pro-Life".

The plate styles aren't distracting and they are easily readable. If they want to develop Christian, Muslim, or atheist styles, that's okay with me as long as the fees go to some kind of general charity. Imagine the time-savings! You could completely skip the entire "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?" at the scene of any horrific accident you happened to come upon. :D