Indiana House Republicans voted to give anyone the right to sue local governments to stop performances they think are obscene.
It’s part of a ban on governments hosting or funding obscene performances — which doesn’t seem to have happened anywhere in Indiana.
Obscene performances — defined in state law as catering solely to sexual interests and without any literary, artistic, political, or scientific value — are already illegal. Republicans haven’t explained why they need to ban state and local governments from hosting or funding such performances, other than to make sure it never happens.
But they also added language to SB 326 allowing anyone, anywhere to sue a government unit to stop a performance they believe is obscene — which Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) said will encourage frivolous lawsuits that waste taxpayer dollars.
“You’re going to chew up time of some lawyers for those local units of government that deal with these marauding groups of people who are easily offended,” Pierce said.
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Rep. Andrew Ireland (R-Indianapolis), the bill’s sponsor, acknowledged that proving in court that a performance is obscene is a very high bar.
“I sincerely hope that Rep. Pierce is right that this has never occurred, and I hope that it never will occur, in part because of the language in this bill,” Ireland said.
The bill now goes back to the Senate, which can send it to the governor or take it to conference committee for more work.
Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.