Mont. Church at Center of 9th Circuit Decision to Host Celebration on SundayADF Allied Attorney Tim Fox has issued the press release set forth below: ________________________ MEDIA ADVISORY Mont. Church at Center of 9th Circuit Decision to Host Celebration on Sunday WHO: ADF-allied attorney Tim Fox and ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb WHAT: Worship service and luncheon in celebration of court decision in Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church v. Unsworth WHEN: Sunday, March 22, beginning at 10:15 a.m. MDT (luncheon at 11:45 a.m. MDT) WHERE: Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church, 3384 Canyon Ferry Rd., East Helena EAST HELENA, Mont. — Two attorneys involved in defending Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church in a recent victory at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit will make brief comments at a worship service at the church Sunday. ADF-allied attorney Tim Fox–a partner with the Helena law firm Gough, Shanahan, Johnson & Waterman, PLLP–and ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb will be available for media interviews before and after a celebratory luncheon following the church service. “Churches have the right to speak about the moral issues of our time. That is what churches do,” said Fox. “The ruling that came down in this case affirms that churches are free to disagree and to participate in public debate.” During the worship service, McCaleb and Fox will briefly discuss the outcome of the case, Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church v. Unsworth, and its implications for churches. On Feb. 25, the 9th Circuit reversed a ruling which had upheld as constitutional a Montana commissioner’s determination that the church violated state law by not registering as an “incidental political committee.” Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in June 2004 after the Montana commissioner of political practices began investigating the church upon receiving a complaint from a homosexual activist group because the church spoke in support of the state’s constitutional amendment protecting marriage. # # #
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