States may tax the sales of religious books, tapes and other merchandise sold by television evangelists, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
The court unanimously upheld taxes imposed by California on the Louisiana-based Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, ruling that forcing the TV preacher's organization to pay such taxes does not violate religious freedom."California's non-discriminatory sales and use tax law requires only that (Swaggart's ministry) collect the tax from its California purchasers and remit the tax money to the state," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote.
"Collection and payment of the generally applicable tax in this case imposes no constitutionally significant burden on (Swaggart's) religious practices or beliefs," she said.
In other action, the court:
- Ruled unanimously that a doctrine restricting U.S. court review of foreign policy does not automatically shield American corporations from being sued for allegedly bribing foreign government officials.
- Ruled that a union official convicted of embezzlement may not be forced to repay the union with his own pension benefits. The court, in a case from Colorado, unanimously threw out a $275,000 judgment awarded to the Sheet Metal Workers against a former chief executive officer of a union local.