For Immediate Release
CONGREGATIONS WIN CONCEAL & CARRY APPEAL
Date: January 13, 2004
Contact: Kelly Griffith, Marketing Manager, 612-492-7514
Email: kgriffith@fredlaw.com
Minneapolis, MN, January 13, 2004 - Today the Minnesota Court of Appeals handed a major victory to twelve congregations in their constitutional challenge to the Minnesota "conceal-and-carry" law.
Last June the Hennepin County District Court granted a temporary injunction against the notification provisions of the law, but denied other relief on the ground that the congregations did not have "standing," a technical legal doctrine. The unanimous three-judge Minnesota Court of Appeals panel reversed, holding that the congregations were injured by the law as parking lot owners and landlords and thus have the legal right to challenge the law as unconstitutional.
The case will now go back to the District Court where the congregations, with the Court of Appeals victory in hand, will renew their request for a broader injunction.
The congregations' appeal asked the Court of Appeals to affirm the right of religious institutions to ban all firearms from all of their religious properties. They allege that the law's restrictions violate the Minnesota Constitution's guarantee of religious freedom.
Pastor Erik Strand of Edina Community Lutheran Church, which started the lawsuit, commented, "This Court of Appeals ruling is another very important step in our legal efforts to worship and exercise our beliefs as we discern them." Strand hailed the ecumenical opposition to the law. Many different religious communities have joined the Hennepin County lawsuit and another case in Ramsey County.
Copies of the Court of Appeals decision may be found on the Court's website. Background on the lawsuit may be obtained from the Fredrikson & Byron website. The attorney who argued the case for the congregations, David Lillehaug, is out of town on business, but may return messages left at 612-492-7321.
Fredrikson & Byron is a 170-attorney law firm based in Minneapolis. It has an office in London and affiliates in Mexico City, Warsaw, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. The firm's primary areas of practice include banking, corporate, employment, healthcare, intellectual property, international, litigation, real estate, securities, and tax. We serve a broad range of clients, including multinational corporations, public companies, privately-held businesses, entrepreneurs, government agencies, and family businesses. Fredrikson & Byron's attorneys also work with individuals on estate planning, family law, and immigration matters.