Constitutional Law

2nd Circuit: Vt. can't bar religion from vanity plates

By By The Associated Press

NEW YORK ? "THE REV" and "PSALM48" can join "ARMYMOM" and "DARE2BU" on the license plates of cars in Vermont after a federal appeals court ruled on Oct. 8 that the First Amendment leaves room for religious messages on vanity plates.

The unanimous three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower-court ruling in the state's favor in a case brought by Shawn Byrne of West Rutland, Vt. In 2004, Vermont rejected Byrne?s proposed vanity plate, which referred to a Bible passage.

In September 2007, a federal judge in Burlington, Vt., rejected Byrne?s claim that the state discriminated against him when it rejected his application for a license plate that would read: "JN36TN," a reference to the often-quoted Bible verse John 3:16.

Byrne did not return a telephone message for comment in time for this story.

Tom McCormick, an assistant attorney general, also did not respond to a phone message in time for this article.

In its ruling, the 2nd Circuit noted that Vermont allows its residents to express themselves about personal philosophy and taste and to put inspirational messages and statements of affiliation on their license plates. But religion had been ruled out.

Thus, the state's vehicles have plates such as: "BUTCHER," ''BKEEPER," ''LUV2FSH," ''GOYANKS," ''PEACE2U," ''THNKPOS" and "MISUDAD." But not "REV 3 20" or "UM REV" and the like.

"The state rejected Byrne's message only because it addressed ... areas of otherwise permissible expression from a religious perspective," the appeals court wrote in Byrne v. Rutledge. "This the state cannot do."

The 2nd Circuit panel emphasized that its ruling was limited to the state's ban on religious messages, an area where it said the U.S. Supreme Court has been "extensive and clear" in its guidance.

As a result, the judges said, the state can keep its ban on vanity plates that refer to scatological subjects, genitalia, illicit drugs, racial epithets and other objectionable material.

The appeals court noted that the state's rules against religious expression on vanity plates sometimes had been unevenly applied.

For instance, it said, "GENESIS" would have been allowed to appear on a license plate as long as the driver had insisted it was a reference to a rock group rather than the Old Testament. And the court said Byrne had shown that his proposed license plate would have been approved if he had given the state a secular meaning, saying he chose "JN36TN" because his name is John, he is 36 years old and he was born in Tennessee.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on October 10, 2010 (boomark / email).