A federal judge ruled that the state cannot issue license plates showing the image of a cross in front of a stained glass window along with the phrase “I Believe.” Judge Cameron M. Currie of Federal District Court said in her ruling that the license plates were unconstitutional because they violate the First Amendment ban on establishment of religion. The fight over the plates started shortly after Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer helped push the legislation through in 2008. Groups including Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee challenged the law. Judge Currie ordered the state to cover those groups’ legal expenses.