Neither could Walt, but Keith Cressman told the Tulsa World that he can. Mr. Cressman is suing the state of Oklahoma because, he argues, the state's standard license plate is contrary to the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state.
The image, brought in by the state in 2009, is of "Sacred Rain Arrow", a sculpture by Allan Houser of an Indian [Native American, surely! Ed.] shooting an arrow into the sky to bring rain. [Just what Oklahoma needs. Ed.]
The 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals has now ruled that the image of the sculpture could be seen as an endorsement of a specific religion. Mr. Cressman is not an anti-religion nut. It's just that native spiritualism is not his religion! He told the World he "adheres to historic Christian beliefs."
But here's the trouble. The "Sacred Rain Arrow" is standard on OK licence plates -- some 3 million of them -- and if you don't like it, you have to pay extra to get a vanity plate with some other image or no image at all. And if you try to cover up the image, you could be fined.
Mr. Cressman's attorney said that his client "doesn't want to be forced to say something that he does not want to say," hence the lawsuit. A fart-catcher for Oklahoma's attorney general said in a statement, "We'll continue to defend the state's position that Oklahoma's license plate design does not violate Mr. Cressman's constitutional rights."
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