WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Four Indiana cities are continuing to challenge a lawsuit by conservative groups seeking to have the cities’ human rights ordinances overturned. The lawsuit, filed by the Indiana Family Institute and several other affiliated groups, names Indianapolis, Columbus, Carmel, and Bloomington as defendants. Officials from the four cities first challenged the lawsuit in Hamilton County, where they argued that the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to bring the lawsuit, and couldn’t show actual harm caused by the city ordinances. Hamilton County judge, Steven Nation, rejected the attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed.
The cities are now asking the Indiana Court of Appeals to evaluate Judge Nation’s decision to allow the lawsuit to go forward. They want the Court of Appeals to block the case on the grounds that it will cost the cities substantial time and financial resources to defend. Additionally, the cities argue that the case could have broad ramifications for the state of Indiana.
The lawsuit challenging the cities’ human rights protections was originally filed in December 2015. The Court of Appeals has yet to decide whether they will consider the cities’ attempt to block the case.
