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	Bridgeport Diocese Files Lawsuit against State By Dave Altimari Hartford Courant May 30, 2009 http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-church-ethics-0530.art0may30,0,5479928.story [read the lawsuit] [read the motion for a preliminary injunction] The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport went on the offensive Friday, filing a federal lawsuit against state ethics officials who are investigating whether church officials violated lobbying laws by organizing a rally at the state Capitol earlier this spring. Responding with the same vigor that it showed two months ago when lawmakers proposed a bill that would have changed the way the church governed itself, the diocese is seeking an injunction against an attempt by the Office of State Ethics to require the church to register as a lobbyist. "This cannot possibly be what our legislature had in mind when it sought to bring more transparency and oversight to a legislative process that has been corrupted by special interests and back-room deals. If it is, then it should shock the conscience of all citizens of the Constitution state," Bridgeport Bishop William Lori said in a statement. In March, more than 4,000 Catholics descended on the Capitol to protest Bill 1098, which proposed having lay councils of seven to 13 people oversee the finances of local parishes, relegating Catholic pastors and bishops to an advisory role. Church officials were sharply critical of the bill and organized the rally and, on their website, asked parishioners to contact their local legislators to protest the plan. The bill was eventually withdrawn amid questions about its constitutionality. But the issue did not end there. About a month later, church officials received a letter from the Office of State Ethics informing them that they were the "subject of an Office of State Ethics evaluation" to ascertain whether the diocese had violated state statutes by failing to register as a lobbyist before the rally. In the letter, Thomas K. Jones, an ethics enforcement officer, said that the evaluation was only preliminary and did not necessarily mean that a formal complaint would be filed against the church. Jones said that the diocese was being investigated for possible violations of three state statutes — failing to register as a lobbyist, failing to submit all appropriate lobbyist filings and failing to follow all applicable registration procedures. The letter did not say why the ethics commission decided to start an investigation of the diocese, who if anyone filed a complaint or if any other groups that organized rallies, a fairly common occurrence when the legislature is in session, have received similar letters. Carol Carson, the executive director of the Office of State Ethics, declined to comment Friday afternoon, citing the pending litigation. The ethics commission also is investigating whether the diocese violated state lobbying laws by posting information on its website urging parishioners to contact their legislators to complain about that proposed bill as well as another measure codifying the state Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling, which the church also opposed. After the diocese posted the information about the church governance bill on its website, and parish priests talked about it from the pulpit, legislators received thousands of e-mails and phone calls from angry Catholics. "I believe the OSE's extension of the lobbying laws to these activities will interfere with the diocese's ability to mobilize its members and, if necessary, to urge them to rally at the Capitol," Lori said. "Following the surprise introduction of Bill 1098, a proposal that singled out Catholic parishes and would have forced them to reorganize contrary to church law and the First Amendment, our Diocese responded in the most natural, spontaneous, and frankly American of ways: we alerted our membership — in person and through our website; we encouraged them to exercise their free speech by contacting their elected representatives; and we organized a rally at the State Capitol. How can this possibly be called lobbying?" The Bridgeport diocese does have a paid lobbyist — the Connecticut Catholic Conference — which represents all three church dioceses' interests at the legislature. The Catholic Conference lobbies lawmakers on issues of importance to the church, including immigration policy, the proposed repeal of the death penalty and same-sex marriage. "Religious organizations are like any other special interest group," said Kim Harrison, a lobbyist for the second-largest religious denomination in Connecticut, the United Church of Christ. "We have the right to come up and lobby and talk about public policy." But, Harrison added, "We're just like any other group and we have to abide by the rules of the state of Connecticut." Those rules stipulate that any group that spends more than $2,000 on lobbying must register as a lobbyist. The diocese, in its complaint, acknowledged spending at least that much to rent buses to bring protesters to the Capitol. But the law requires groups to register as lobbyists well in advance, something that church officials said they could not do because the church governance bill caught them by surprise. Lori said that an injunction was necessary to allow the diocese to carry out its mission without fear of "incurring civil penalties, exposure to possible criminal prosecution, burdensome administrative requirements, and intrusive oversight by the state." Alan Neigher, a Westport attorney and First Amendment expert, questioned the commission's approach. "There's a difference between petitioning as a citizen and lobbying as a lobbyist and I don't blame the diocese one bit for going after the state," Neigher said. "The state seems to be going down a slippery slope here. On its face this seems to be a very, very questionable investigation by the state."
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