God Coming to Illinois Plates?

By Prescott Carlson in Miscellaneous on Mar 4, 2009 11:15PM

No, we're not talking about these plates again. Now that Blago is out of the way, the Illinois House can get back to the important business of the state like creating new specialty license plates. The plate, approved by the House yesterday, would be added to the growing number of specialty designs and feature the words "In God We Trust."

The measure received 9 "no" votes, including Democratic Representative Kevin McCarthy who said "the high number of specialty plates in Illinois makes it hard for police to read them. He added he believes they represent a hazard to law enforcers." McCarthy failed to mention the whole "separation of church and state" thing as well. Maybe that's because our neighbor Indiana instituted an "In God We Trust" license plate in 2007, which was challenged as unconstitutional but the lawsuit failed and was cast down by the Indiana Court of Appeals. We have a feeling that won't stop local atheist activist Rob Sherman from trying with his own lawsuit.

The measure still has to be approved by the Senate which ignored a similar bill last year, but if the license plates do become a reality this time we know exactly who the first person will be to request one.

Image via Illinois Library Association