Are temperatures plunging in hell?

This is surprising, but welcome, news, as reported in The Hartford Courant newspaper (ht: Catholic World News):

Saying it is a matter of free speech, the ACLU has filed a brief in support of the Diocese of Bridgeport's battle against a state agency seeking to require the church to register as a lobbyist.

"The free exchange of ideas are at stake here,'' said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut. "The application of this lobbying law to public gatherings such as the church's rally have the effect of chilling free speech.''

The Connecticut Post reports:

In an unusual First Amendment alliance, the American Civil Liberties Union sided with the Diocese of Bridgeport Thursday and slammed the state Office of Ethics for investigating whether the church, in organizing a rally at the Capitol, violated state lobbying laws.

The ACLU filed a friend of the court brief supporting the diocese's request for a preliminary injunction to block the state Office of Ethics from requiring it to register as a lobbyist.

"The Supreme Court, keenly aware of the need to carve out a protected zone, for petitioning activity, that lobbying statutes cannot reach, has defined lobbying narrowly, as involving only 'direct communications with members of the [legislature]' or indirect communications occurring 'through an artificially stimulated letter campaign,' " the ACLU states in its brief. The state Office of Ethics' application of the law to the diocese makes no distinction between petitioning and lobbying, so that the only discernible difference is whether the party has spent $2,000 to advance its message to lawmakers.

• The "Constitution State" goes after the Catholic Church. Again. (June 1, 2009)
• The State of Connecticut attacks the Catholic Church (March 9, 2009)

Comments

[Shaun G]

I wouldn't say the news is all that surprising ... this isn't the first time the ACLU has backed religious organizations. In this case, it's mostly about freedom of speech, but in other cases, the ACLU has been involved in "free exercise" lawsuits.

Obviously, in many cases, the ACLU has taken stances that conflict with Catholic teaching, but I give them credit for being willing to back religious organizations when their civil liberties are clearly being infringed, as in this Connecticut case.

[Howard Richards]

It's also worth pointing out that the ACLU has had a prominent role in opposing policies such as "indefinite detentions" and "enhanced interrogations" -- a more prominent role than either the bishops or our erstwhile allies in the Republican Party. The ACLU is often in the wrong, but you have to give the Devil his due.