Happy Independence Day! – Religious Edition

This is an update to a previous post.  You can read more details about the case here.

Attorney GeneralRichard Blumenthal has  written a letter to  Connecticut’s Office of State Ethics regarding their determination that the Diocese of Bridgeport was acting as a lobbyist when it organized a protest this last spring.  The protest was in opposition to a proposed law that would have stripped the Catholic Church of authority to handle its own finances.  The diocese sued the OSE in federal court, and Blumenthal would be responsible for conducting the defense of the state’s actions.

Serious constitutional and other legal concerns raised by this lawsuit compel me to conclude that Connecticut’s lobbying and registration laws cannot and should not be enforced in this factual situation against the Church.  The legislature as soon as possible must clarify or revise those laws to ensure that they continue to serve their important purposes—avoidance of corruption or the appearance of corruption arising from paid lobbying—while also preserving and encouraging legally protected political expression.

Constitutional questions raised by the OSE’s evaluation here are profoundly significant and far-reaching.  The Church’s free-expression activities—communicating with its members on legislative issues of paramount importance and holding a rally at the seat of the legislature to protest government action—are clearly and unquestionably protected by the First Amendment.  Indeed, the communications undertaken by the Church are core expressive activity at the very heart of the First Amendment’s protections.

There is no denying the profound and serious constitutional concerns in enforcing the lobbyist registration laws against the Church under these circumstances.  The OSE should abandon its investigation or enforcement as to Church activity regarding raised Bills 899 and 1098 or similar future conduct—and halt such future investigation or enforcement efforts—unless and until the legislature clarifies or revises the statute to address such constitutional concerns.

That’s a nice win for the First Amendment, just in time for Independence Day.

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