Jackson Free Press

The week after the Jackson Free Press reported that Gov. Phil Bryant had declared April "Confederate Heritage Month," his office condemned a lawsuit brought against the governor in federal court this week that seeks to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the Mississippi state flag. Bryant's communications director, Clay Chandler, called the lawsuit "a frivolous attempt ... to usurp the will of the people." The second part of his statement said, "The governor hopes Attorney General Jim Hood will seek attorneys fees to reimburse taxpayers the cost of defending against this needless drain on state resources."

The governor's response is almost laughable, especially in a state that has spent massive time and taxpayer money litigating cases they instigate in the first place or defending themselves in cases that are clearly their fault, like the state's mental healthcare and foster-care systems.

The attorney general has to defend the state regardless of how ridiculous or level-headed a lawsuit brought against the state is—but the attorney general does not choose to not comply with lawsuits or to follow federal law, costing taxpayers money left and right. Currently, the state is embroiled in several lawsuits draining taxpayer coffers, most in response to, yes, frivolous attempts by state government to subvert federal law.

In one of the poorest states in the nation, litigating cases in the name of religious freedom or conservative idealism is costly. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt case this week, which could affect the Jackson Women's Health Organization case that the state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state, which instigated that lawsuit, has been litigating against its only abortion clinic since 2013 to force it to adopt admitting privileges with a local hospital as a way to try to close the clinic, even though abortion is a legal, constitutional right.

Mississippi is notoriously playing the role of defendant in several cases when the federal government or people whose rights have been violated sue the state. Both the Olivia Y and Troupe v. Barbour cases are long, ongoing lawsuits—but these cases are about the state's own children and issues that matter to real Mississippians every day.

Lawsuits are often necessary as a last-ditch effort to get the state to honor the rights of its citizens. Carlos Moore's lawsuit against Bryant and the state over dangers white citizens believe the state flag presents may not ultimately be successful. But the lawsuit is anything but "frivolous." It is a serious effort to try to get the majority of white citizens in the state to face and acknowledge what the flag has long stood for, and how that hurts black citizens.

State Republicans love to use the phrase "frivolous lawsuits" to refer to any filed that they don't agree with, even while they use lawsuits themselves to try to enforce their own beliefs.

Still, they are right that the state pays far too many legal fees, as taxpayers will be forced to do if the state keeps up its airport "takeover" attempt. One way to save that money would be for the state's leaders to work with all of Mississippi's people rather than constantly trying to divide into us and them.