Earlier this week, a Montana federal district court rejected a First Amendment free exercise and free expression challenge by the Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church in East Helena, Montana to an order issued last March by the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices. (See prior posting.) The Associated Press reported yesterday that the court upheld the state's ruling that the church should have reported its support of activities in 2004 to get voters to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage. The church's activities turned it into an "incidental campaign committee" under state law. The court rejected the church's argument that the state's campaign laws are unconstitutional.
UPDATE: Here is the full opinion in Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church v. Higgins, (D MT, Sept. 26, 2006).
