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2nd Circuit Voids Vermont's "Vanity" License Plate Law That Excludes Religious References

By Howard M. Friedman

In Byrne v. Rutledge, (2d Cir., Oct. 8, 2010), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals held that Vermont's statute that allows for "vanity" license plates, but does not permit the issuance of plates that refer to a religion or deity, is unconstitutional.  The court concluded that by allowing residents to select combinations of letters and numbers that convey a message on a variety of topics, including statements of personal philosophy, taste, inspirational messages and affiliation with causes, but not allowing religious references, the state has engaged in viewpoint discrimination. The court also found the statute unconstitutional as applied.  In this case, a resident applied for a license plate reading JN36TN. The state refused to issue it because the applicant informed them that he intended the plate to refer to a Biblical verse, John 3:16.  However, had the applicant supplied a secular meaning for the numbers and letters, the state would have issued the plate.  The court found that interpreted this way, the statute fails to further a legitimate governmental interest and constitutes an unreasonable restriction on expression. New York Law Journal reports on the decision.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on October 09, 2010 (boomark / email).