Tax exempt status on Bibles unconstitutional

BATON ROUGE, La. — A 1996 law that exempted religious groups from paying sales tax on Bibles and religious instructional materials is unconstitutional, Judge Ginger Berrigan ruled in a challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. Berrigan also struck down a 1998 law that exempted religious retreats and camps from sales tax. Berrigan ruled that both laws violated the…