Remember the Clerk?

Remember the Clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage license to same-sex couples due to her sincere religious conviction that same-sex marriage was an abomination? That happened in Indiana as well:

A southern Indiana deputy clerk who was fired after she refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple lost her civil-rights lawsuit against the county clerk. Her suit claimed religious discrimination on the basis of her avowed Christian belief that same-sex marriage is “against God’s law,” which is “above legal law.”

Harrison County deputy clerk Linda G. Summers refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple that came to the courthouse in Corydon on Dec. 8, 2014. 

Now, I know that Indiana's hired Jackass-in-Chief was not yet in office at the time, so I can only wonder what his thoughts were on this refusal to perform a public obligation for which one is paid and accepted employment due to religious belief. 

I bring that up in light of this recent headline. Some notable quotes:

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is hitting back at three county prosecutors who have declined to defend the state in its most recent abortion-related lawsuit, saying the prosecutors have no authority to determine how the case proceeds.

Hill released a statement Thursday morning criticizing the Marion, Monroe and Lake County prosecutors’ Wednesday announcement that they would not defend the state in a complaint filed against Senate Enrolled Act 340, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. v. Commissioner, Indiana State Dept. of Health, et al., 1:18-cv-1219. The law, set to take effect July 1, would require abortion providers such as PPINK to report “all abortion complications” and to submit to annual inspections, a requirement not placed on other outpatient settings or hospitals.

* * * * * * * * *

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said the state’s unsuccessful defense of these laws has cost the state nearly $300,000 in legal fees pad to the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and has diverted other resources away from prosecutors’ offices. Curry, Chris Gaal of Monroe County and Bernard Carter of Lake County are named as defendants in the SEA 340 complaint because PPINK has clinics in their counties.The prosecutors are Democrats. Hill is a Republican.

“We are tired of being drawn into the annual act of legislative futility to pass abortion-related bills, which inevitably results in lawsuits at taxpayer expense,” Curry said in a Wednesday statement. 

So, to be clear, the Indiana State Legislature has repeatedly passed laws that any first-year law student would rightly conclude are unconstitutional. Then, after the State of Indiana attempts to enforce those laws, the ACLU sues the State of Indiana and wins. Following the win, the ACLU is then entitled to its attorney fees. Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Lake Co. have determined that they do not believe they will prevail in the present suit and do not want to expose themselves to liability for the ACLU's attorney fees. 

Indiana's Republican Attorney General Curtis Hill (who no doubt casts himself as "fiscally conservative" and a "constitutional conservative") demands that these communities shoulder the burden of these needlessly provoked culture wars. 

Awesome.