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Woman sues after “Atheist” personalized license plate is denied

A New Jersey woman is suing after finding out she couldn't purchase a license plate that read 8THEIST.

A woman in New Jersey is filing a First Amendment suit against the state of New Jersey because her request for a personalized license plate was denied.

The woman, Shannon Morgan, believes the state discriminated against her based on her beliefs when her request for a license plate reading “8THEIST” was rejected.

When she tried to submit the request online for the plate, she was denied because apparently her personalized plate request was “objectionable”, but when she tested the word “BAPTIST” for a personalized plate, there was no issue.

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A Motor Vehicle Commission spokesperson claims that the state does not discriminate against non-believers and cited a case where a plate request reading “ATHE1ST” was granted for American Atheists president David Silverman. However, his plate request was originally denied before it was determined that there was actually nothing offensive about it.

According to Morgan’s lawsuit, which is being represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the MVC presents a pattern of rejection that is evident because Morgan had to fight for the plate approval.

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Because of Morgan’s plate rejection, it is “thereby discriminating against atheist viewpoints and expressing a preference for theism over non-theism.”

It wasn’t just the computer that rejected Morgan’s personalized plate request.

According to Gawker, an MVC spokesperson told NJ.com that “we review every request personally … and we review them for anything that’s offensive or objectionable.”

Atheism isn’t always accepted, apparently not even on personalized license plates.

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