Sunday, January 18, 2009, 11:49am
The American Civil Liberties Union agreed Thursday to settle a lawsuit it filed against the state of Louisiana over unrestricted government payments to churches.
The ACLU's Louisiana chapter said the settlement agreement bars the state from funneling taxpayer money without conditions to selected churches that offer non-religious social services.
In October 2007, a federal judge blocked $120,000 in state funds from being paid to Stonewall Baptist Church in Bossier City and Shreveport Christian Church. The ACLU argues that those two payments, along with six others approved by lawmakers, would have been unconstitutional.