Pro-family organization no longer barred from Mont. employee giving program

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Montana Family Foundation will no longer be singled out for exclusion from a state employee giving program in the wake of a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund. Because the state agreed to include the organization in the program and permanently change the problematic policy that led to the lawsuit, ADF attorneys voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit Wednesday.

ADF filed suit on behalf of MFF after it had been excluded from the Montana State Employee Charitable Giving Program, which allows state employees to voluntarily donate a portion of their paychecks to non-profit organizations, including some churches.  MFF was refused because it engaged in “sectarian activities,” which the state defined as including religious expression.

“Christian groups shouldn’t be singled out for discrimination simply because they’re Christian groups,” said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. “State employees should be allowed to give to the group that they choose regardless of viewpoint, rather than just groups that the state prefers. Shutting out the Montana Family Foundation from the program was not only wrong, it was unconstitutional. The state has clearly done the right thing in eliminating the need for further litigation to rectify that.”

In May 2009, MFF submitted an application to participate in the 2009 State Employees Charitable Giving Campaign. Previous participants in the program included The Sierra Club Foundation, ACLU of Montana Foundation, NARAL Pro-Choice Montana Foundation, God’s Love Shelter, and Catholic Social Services of Montana.

ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit Montana Family Foundation v. Stoll in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana after MFF received a letter rejecting their application. The letter stated, “Our eligibility requirements…state that an organization ‘not have sectarian activities as the primary focus.’” ADF attorneys argued that because the state included religious expression in its definition of “sectarian activities,” it engaged in viewpoint discrimination when it denied MFF participation in the program simply because the organization promotes a religious viewpoint.

As a result of the lawsuit, the state agreed to permanently change its policy and allow MFF to participate in the 2010 campaign as well as future campaigns.

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.