Alliance Defence Fund
Everything here is copied from the ADF website.
Praise the Lord,
We Won !
June 07, 2004
HELENA—The Alliance Defense Fund filed suit today against Linda L. Vaughey, the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, after she began investigating Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church for alleged violations of election law on behalf of local homosexual rights activists.
"Montana’s election law regarding campaign finance and practice is so vague that it allows the state to chill the free speech and religious expression rights of churches that publicly take a position on the subject of marriage," said Benjamin Bull, chief counsel for ADF. "The law is ambiguous and allows the state to enforce it in whatever way it sees fit. Apparently, not enough room exists in ‘Big Sky Country’ for churches to voice their views on the subject of marriage."
Vaughey is investigating a complaint filed by a homosexual activist group charging that the church failed to register with the state as an "incidental political committee" before the church sponsored an event on May 23. During the event, the pastor preached about marriage, presented a religious video broadcast about marriage, and allowed congregants to sign petitions to authorize a pro-marriage amendment known as "CI 96" to be put on the next general election ballot.
ADF and local counsel Timothy C. Fox of the firm Gough, Shanahan, Johnson, and Waterman filed the case, Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church of East Helena and Berthold Gotlieb "B.G." Stumberg III v. Linda L. Vaughey, in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, Helena Division, on behalf of the church and its pastor, Berthold Stumberg.
The law in question requires any organization "not specifically organized or maintained for the primary purpose of influencing elections" to register with the state and file an organizational statement within five days after it makes an expenditure or authorizes another person to make an expenditure on its behalf.
The Commissioner of Political Practices interprets "expenditure" to include "just about anything a political committee spends in support of or in opposition to a candidate or ballot issue."
"This law is clearly unconstitutional," Bull said. "It imposes onerous reporting and registration requirements and even the risk of fines simply because the church spoke out in favor of marriage."
Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council, two organizations that sponsored the simulcast video presentation in which Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church took part, have also voiced their support for the church and the lawsuit.
January 17, 2005
HELENA—Homosexual advocates were dealt a setback in their efforts to silence Montana’s churches Thursday when a federal judge refused to dismiss an East Helena church’s civil rights lawsuit. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed the suit in response to a homosexual activist group’s administrative complaint that the church violated state election law.
Chief Judge Donald Molloy is allowing Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church’s lawsuit against the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices to go forward. The commissioner launched an investigation into the church after receiving a complaint from “Montanans for Families and Fairness,” a homosexual activist group that alleged the church violated a vague state political practices law. Molloy determined that the church and its pastor “easily meet” the test for stating a proper civil rights claim against the commissioner.
“The Political Commissioner’s investigation of the church is chilling our client’s right to freedom of speech and religious expression on the subject of marriage and is intimidating other churches from expressing their views as well,” said Gary McCaleb, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.
The political practices complaint alleges that the church failed to register with the state as an “incidental political committee” before the church held a religious service on the subject of marriage on May 23 of last year. During the regular Sunday evening worship service, the pastor preached about marriage, presented a religious video broadcast about marriage, and allowed petitions to authorize a pro-marriage constitutional amendment for the Nov. 2, 2004, ballot to be placed on church property.
The commissioner filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but the court denied the request, stating that “the Church has alleged a cognizable legal theory in support of its claims.”
“The political practices law is vague and open to arbitrary enforcement by the state. The church should no longer be harassed by this investigation,” McCaleb explained. “Churches have the right to speak freely of marriage and morality. The political commissioner should have dismissed the complaint against the church as simply frivolous.”
Former Commissioner Linda Vaughey initiated the investigation; newly appointed Commissioner Gordon Higgins will be automatically substituted for Vaughey in the case. ADF attorneys and local counsel Timothy Fox of the firm Gough, Shanahan, Johnson, and Waterman filed the case, now to be known as Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church of East Helena, et al., v. Gordon Higgins, on June 7 of last year in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
March 10, 2006
HELENA — Montana’s commissioner of political practices released an opinion this week saying an East Helena Baptist church had violated Montana’s Campaign Finance and Practices Act by deciding to support the state’s initiative amendment on marriage. Attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund representing Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church say they are not surprised by the commissioner’s findings.
“The First Amendment protects the right to speak out in support of important social issues. Montana’s campaign finance and practice laws put a very heavy price on any speech in support of a ballot issue like the marriage amendment. The laws clearly violate the First Amendment,” said ADF Legal Counsel Dale Schowengerdt. “The commissioner’s finding is no surprise. It just affirms how far afoul of the U.S. Constitution Montana’s campaign finance laws have run.”
The commissioner, Gordon Higgins, asserted that because the church decided to support the state’s marriage amendment initiative, the church “became an incidental political committee under Montana law, with corresponding reporting obligations.” The leftist group Montanans for Families and Fairness, which filed the complaint against the church, apparently disbanded and the complainant left Montana.
“The complaint filed against the church was a politically motivated attack designed to muzzle marriage supporters,” said Schowengerdt. “The law is so extreme that it can be triggered by ‘anything of value’--even a penny spent on the church electric bill. Once triggered, the law demands that the church register with the state, comply with comprehensive reporting requirements, and jump through state-mandated organization hoops, as would a political committee.”
ADF filed a federal lawsuit in defense of Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church and its pastor in June 2004 and is awaiting a ruling in the case, Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church v. Higgins.
Schowengerdt added, “The commissioner’s ruling only helps make ADF’s case on behalf of the church and on behalf of any other church that is victimized by the Left’s insistence on using campaign finance laws to silence churches and other groups on issues important to our society.”
October 09, 2006
HELENA, Mont. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a notice of appeal today in federal court for a case involving a Baptist church accused of violating Montana election law because it did not report to the government when it spoke out on the state’s marriage amendment.
“Churches should not be punished for speaking out on important social issues of the day. After all, that’s a big part of what churches do,” said ADF Legal Counsel Dale Schowengerdt. “We are appealing the district court’s decision in this case because the Constitution should never be construed to require cumbersome reporting requirements in order to exercise First Amendment rights.”
Montana’s commissioner of political practices, Gordon Higgins, asserted that because the church decided to support the state’s marriage amendment initiative, the church “became an incidental political committee under Montana law, with corresponding reporting obligations” . The leftist group Montanans for Families and Fairness, which filed the complaint against the church, apparently disbanded, and the complainant left Montana.
“The complaint filed against the church was a politically motivated attack designed to muzzle marriage supporters,” said Schowengerdt. “The law is so extreme that it can be triggered by ‘anything of value’--even a penny spent on the church electric bill. Once triggered, the law demands that the church register with the state, comply with comprehensive reporting requirements, and jump through state-mandated organization hoops, as would a political committee.”
The Sept. 26 ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, Helena Division, in the case Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church v. Higgins can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/CanyonFerryDecision.pdf. ADF attorneys filed notice with the district court today that they will appeal that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
“Leftist special interest groups continue to insist on using campaign finance laws to silence churches and other groups on issues important to our society. Montana’s campaign finance and practice laws put a very heavy price on any speech in support of a ballot issue like the marriage amendment. The laws clearly violate the First Amendment,” Schowengerdt explained.
August 01, 2008
Seattle — Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Dale Schowengerdt will be available for media interviews Monday following a church’s free speech hearing in Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church v. Unsworth. ADF attorneys are appealing a 2006 court decision holding the church in violation of a Montana campaign finance law because it did not report to the state when speaking on the social issue of Montana’s marriage amendment.
“Churches have the right to apply biblical truths to societal issues without fear of punishment. No one should be able to use the government to intimidate churches into giving up their constitutional rights,” said Schowengerdt. “Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church was simply doing what churches do—addressing social issues from a biblical perspective. It should not be required to register with the government to do that. A church does not become a political committee simply because it speaks on an issue like marriage.”
In 2004, the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices investigated the church, following up on a complaint filed by homosexual activist group Montanans for Families and Fairness. The group claimed that the church violated a Montana political practices law by supporting a proposed state marriage amendment without registering as a political committee.
The commissioner held that the church should have organized, registered, and reported as an “incidental political committee.” ADF attorneys sued on behalf of the church, claiming the Montana campaign finance law is unconstitutional.
