Montana church's speech rights violated by treatment as a political committee

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Montana election law was unconstitutionally applied to an East Helena church which supported a 2004 ballot initiative to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Howard M. Friedman explains that Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church "advertised and hosted a one-time screening of a video in support of the amendment and made petitions available in its foyer for signing."

Reversing a lower court decision, 9th Circuit ruled that "disclosure and reporting requirements are unconstitutional as applied to the Church’s de minimis activities," violating the church's right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment.

Circuit Judge John T. Noonan, in a concurring opinion, argued that the matter should have been decided on freedom of religion grounds:

“What has happened here is that a small congregation has been put to trouble and expense in order to exercise its right to speak on an issue seen by it to be of vital religious significance. One lesson of history is that small incursions on freedom are to be resisted lest they grow greater,” Noonan wrote.

This is an Alliance Defense Fund case and, because it tends to erode a previously defined boundary, a signal that the already contentious issue of religion in politics is destined to become more so.