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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Ind. Courts - Still more on: God and prayer continue in Indiana headlines
Updating this ILB entry from Nov. 20th, where the head of the BMV defended "the BMV's new policy that bars references to religion or a deity" in a license plate, the Indianapolis Star has a story today headed "God once again welcome on license plates." Mary Beth Schneider's report begins:
Ron Stiver, commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, said Tuesday he is reversing a recently adopted agency policy that had barred the mention of religion or a deity, ending a monthlong controversy that had resulted in a lawsuit.The short-lived policy was "well-intended and legally defensible," Stiver said. "At the end of the day, it comes down to what makes the most common sense."
The answer, he said, was to revert to the previous policy, in which a committee of BMV employees weighs each request for a personalized license plate, deciding whether the plate "carries a connotation offensive to good taste and decency or would be misleading."
That wording, he said, "sufficed before; it should suffice now."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 26, 2008 11:36 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions