COLUMBIA, South Carolina (November 11, 2009)--) - A federal judge has ruled that South Carolina cannot issue license plates showing the image of a cross in front of a stained glass window with the phrase "I Believe."

Judge Cameron Currie said in her ruling that the license plate is unconstitutional because it "amounts to a state endorsement not only of religion in general, but of a specific sect in particular."

Currie's ruling singled out Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who pushed the state legislature to pass legislation that she said "embroiled the state in unnecessary (and expensive) litigation."

Bauer said he wasn’t surprised by the ruling and would like to see it appealed.

Christian advocates tried to get the same license plate approved in Florida, but the bill did not pass in the Legislature.