Louisiana Sales Tax Exemptions For Religions Held Unconstitutional

In New Orleans Secular Humanist Association, Inc. v. Bridges, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20020 (ED La., April 17, 2006), a Louisiana federal district court granted a preliminary injunction, finding that five Louisiana statutes that grant various sales tax exemptions explicitly to religious organizations, and not to others, violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The court concluded that the statutes have both the purpose and effect of benefiting religion.