Minister-Campaign Laws

Minister wins lawsuit over signature gathering

   BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- The state has acknowledged that a century old law
limiting the speech of clergy regarding candidates and ballot issues is
unconstitutional.
   The Billings Gazette reports U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull approved a
settlement Tuesday in the case of a Billings minister who sued the state after
being arrested on trespassing charges while gathering signatures for a ballot
measure seeking to amend the state's constitution to define unborn children
as persons.    Calvin Zastrow, a minister for the Assemblies of God, was arrested
after he refused to leave a location near MetraPark commonly used to gather
petition signatures. The charges were dropped.
   County officials did not allege that Zastrow violated the 1913 undue voter
influence law, but his lawsuit sought to prevent the state from threatening to
enforce it.
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   Information from: Billings Gazette
   AP-WF-10-06-12 1519GMT