ACLU Challenges Sales Tax Exemption For Bibles

A retired Atlanta librarian and a book store owner, represented by the ACLU of Georgia, are challenging the constitutionality of a Georgia statute (OCGA 48-8-3(16)) that grants a sales and use tax exemption to purchases of "Holy Bibles, testaments, and similar books commonly recognized as being Holy Scripture." Their lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, argues that the Constituion's Establishment Clause requires that the exemption to be extended to other philosophical, religious and spiritual works as well. They argue that the current law has "the primary effect of endorsing religion in general and Judaism and Christianity in particular". The Atlanta Journal Constitution, reporting on the case, says that the State Revenue Commisssion has agreed that the exemption extends to purchases of the Quran, but has not had inquiries about other texts such as The Bhagavad Gita.