Date: November 15, 2006
Contact: Kelly Griffith, Marketing Manager
Phone:
(612) 492-7514
Email: kgriffith@fredlaw.com
Attorneys:
David Lillehaug, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.
(612) 492-7000
Marshall Tanick, Mansfield, Tanick & Cohen, P.A.
(612) 339-4295
For Immediate Release
Judge Enters Permanent Injunction Against Unconstitutional Portions Of Reenacted Conceal & Carry Law
Minneapolis, MN November 15, 2006 – – The churches that led previous successful challenges to the so-called “Conceal & Carry Law” have now obtained a permanent injunction declaring that provisions of the law are unconstitutional.
In a complete victory for the churches, Hennepin District Court Judge William Howard ruled late Tuesday that the law, as reenacted by the 2005 Legislature, violates the Minnesota Constitution, the U.S. Constitution, and a federal law that protects religious freedom. He held that religious institutions may ban firearms on all of their religious properties, and he prohibited the State of Minnesota from enforcing the unconstitutional law against any religious institution.
Specifically, Judge Howard determined that the signage and personal notification requirements infringed on religious rights. He ruled that the parking lots and tenant spaces of religious institution were entitled to the same degree of protection as houses of worship. Finally, he held that the State had not shown that requiring religious institutions to accept firearms would aid public safety.
The two successful plaintiffs are:
- Edina Community Lutheran Church, Edina, Minnesota, represented by David Lillehaug of Fredrikson & Byron.
- Unity Church Unitarian, St. Paul, Minnesota, represented by Marshall Tanick, Mansfield Tanick & Cohen.
This is the latest in a two-and-a-half year string of litigation victories against the conceal-carry law. In 2003 and 2004, the Edina church and others obtained temporary injunctions on religious freedom grounds. In 2004, in a lawsuit led by Unity Church, the entire law was declared unconstitutional. In 2005, after the legislature reenacted the law, Edina and Unity obtained yet another temporary injunction. The latest ruling makes that injunction final.
Attorney Lillehaug commented: “Our religious clients have won every court battle over the last two and a half years. The latest ruling, by Judge Howard, is a powerful and eloquent vindication of the right of Minnesotans to protect the religious character of religious properties. The new legislature should bring the conceal-carry law into compliance with the state and federal constitutions.”
Attorney Tanick said: “Even after an injunction was issued against the previous version of the law, the 2005 Legislature reenacted it and ran roughshod over the rights of religious institutions. So, these courageous churches once again returned to court to enforce constitutional rights, and have prevailed in all respects.”