Doug Hood/AP
A New Jersey atheist sued the state after her application for a vanity plate reading '8THEIST' was denied.
The suit, filed Thursday by Shannon Morgan, of Leesburg, claims her online application was rejected on the grounds 'that the message 'may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency.''
Morgan argues the decision, made in November after she tried to register the plate, violates her First Amendment rights to free speech and equal religious protection.
'There is nothing offensive about being atheist,' she told the South Jersey Times. 'I should be able to express my sincerely held beliefs with a license plate just like everyone else.'
As an experiment, Morgan entered 'BAPTIST' as a potential plate - and was given the go-ahead by the website.
'The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission's actions are mean-spirited and derogatory,' Americans United for Separation of Church and State Legal Director Ayesha N. Khan, who represents Morgan, said in a statement. 'They're also unconstitutional because the government cannot endorse belief over non-belief.'
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
Morgan allegedly got in touch with a commission employee, who also was unsure why her request was denied. But when she tried again and again to get her requested vanity plate, no one from the commission responded, she said.
'We review every request personally ... and we review them for anything that's offensive or objectionable,' Sandy Grossman, a spokesperson for the Motor Vehicle Commission, told the Times.
Though she wouldn't comment specifically on Morgan's pending case, Grossman said other people have been issued atheist-themed license plates.
'We have no objection and continue to issue plates with these types of configurations,' she told the newspaper.
It's not the first time an atheist has tangled with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
David Silverman, the president of New Jersey-based American Atheist, requested a plate last August reading 'ATHE1ST.' He was denied at first but after a brief flap, was granted the plate.
Morgan seeks the right to have her requested plate and any attorney fees, the suit says.
'The state of New Jersey is favoring religion while disparaging non-belief,' Americans United executive director Rev. Barry W. Lynn said in a statement. 'It simply has no right to do that.
'This license plate issue may seem like a small matter but it is indicative of a much larger problem - atheists are often treated by the government as second-class citizens,' he added.
sgoldstein@nydailynews.com
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