TORONTO -- One man in the āBluegrass Stateā is likely feeling heavenly today.
Kentucky Transportation officials have been ordered by a federal judge to pay US$150,715, after losing a lawsuit against a man who was initially denied āIM GODā licence plates. The money will go towards paying the manās legal fees.
The outcome is likely a godsend to Ben Hart, whoās been waiting for the verdict for years.
In 2016, he applied for the vehicle plates but was denied because they didnāt āmeet the requirementsā for obtaining personalized plates, obtained by CTVNews.ca. Hart, a retired postal worker, grew up religious but now identifies as an atheist, his lawyers said.
When he was denied the āIM GODā plates, his lawyers argued the stateās existing law was unconstitutional. And , the team also claimed similar plates had been approved, such as "GODLVS," "TRYGOD," "1GOD" and "NOGOD."
According to Kentucky law, the state allows people to have personalized, vanity licence plates as long as theyāre not discriminatory on the basis of sex, race, religion or nationality.
In November, the judge had ruled that Hartās plates were, in fact, speech protected by the United Statesā First Amendment -- similar to the freedom of speech protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
On Monday, the judge ruled that Kentucky transportation officials had to pay Hartās legal fees.
Lawyers for the state had fought the costs, which they called excessive.
They also argued that Hartās team hadnāt proven that the Kentucky statute was unconstitutional, but that Hart had simply proven he was allowed to get the plates.
The money will go towards Hartās lawyers, including some from the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
In a joint statement from both groups in November, : "The Commonwealth does not allow drivers to say anything they want with a license plate message. Thatās fine, but the First Amendment also imposes limits on the Commonwealth. And in this case, as explained below, the Commonwealth went too far."
