The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has revived a lawsuit by an Oklahoma man who objects to the image of a Native American sculpture on the state’s license plates because its message conflicts with his Christian beliefs. The Associated Press reports that the court decided that Keith Cressman "can sue the state over its Indian ‘rain god’ license plate, ruling that the depiction of a noted sculpture on 3 million license plates could be interpreted as a state endorsement of a religion." (Turtle Talk, the blog for the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at Michigan State University College of Law, has the filings in the case.)
Oklahoma’s license plate, unveiled in 2008, depicts artist Allan Houser’s sculpture "Sacred Rain Arrow." According to Cressman’s suit, the sculpture is based on a Native American legend and shows an Apache warrior shooting an arrow into the sky so that the "rain god" or "spirit world" would answer prayers for rain in a time of drought.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
