Adventists challenge door-to-door sales law

7/28/2012
BLADE STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A church group says in a new federal lawsuit that an Alabama city is illegally restricting it and other religious groups from making door-to-door solicitations.

The South Central Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is challenging the constitutionality of two Alabaster, Ala., ordinances. The church says the ordinances bar it from doing door-to-door solicitations unless it first registers and pays license fees.

Church officials say the lawsuit was filed after a member of the church's Summer Student Missionary Program was ticketed in June by an Alabaster police officer for selling books door-to-door without a city permit. The group suspended its local program.