Atheist groups won a lawsuit, Tuesday, to keep religious license plates off of cars in South Carolina.

U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie said the plates that say "I Believe" violate the "separation of church and state" and the First Amendment.

The controversial license plates showed an image of a cross in front of a stained glass window.

"Such a law amounts to a state endorsement not only of religion in general, but of a specific sect in particular," Currie said in her ruling.

The license plate was approved by South Carolina lawmakers last year. Hundreds of drivers ordered the plates but none had been sent out.

The atheist groups that challenged the plates included Americans United for Separation of Church and State and American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.