8THEIST vanity license plates allowed under lawsuit settlement
Feminists and atheists in New Jersey will be allowed to proclaim their affiliations on vanity license plates as a result of a lawsuit settlement.
The settlement, announced last Friday, allows plaintiff Shannon Morgan to pay for a vanity plate that reads, “8THEIST,” report the Associated Press, NJ.com and the New York Times. She will also receive $75,000 for legal fees.
Morgan’s suit had contended the state violated her First Amendment rights when it refused her request for the license plate. The denial had said the plate “may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency.” Morgan then applied for the plate “BAPTIST” and it was accepted.
The settlement also allows vanity plates that read: SECULAR, RATIONL, HUMANST, ATHEISM, GODLESS, HEATHEN, HERETIC, SKEPTIC, BLASFMR, REASON, EVOLVE, TRANS, LGBTR.TS, LGBTQ, PRIDE, QUEER, GAYPOWR, LGBTALY, FEMINISM, FEMINST, EQUALITY and 4WOMEN. Substantially similar plates will also be allowed.
Morgan was represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
A spokeswoman for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission said denial of the license plate “was an oversight that was corrected immediately.”
