JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said Wednesday he will not appeal a federal judge's ruling blocking the state’s controversial "religious freedom" law.
The law, also known as House Bill 1523, would allow people to deny services to some people, particularly the LGBT community, based on their religious beliefs.
"Simply stated, all HB 1523 has done is tarnish Mississippi’s image while distracting us from the more pressing issues of decaying roads and bridges, underfunding of public education, the plight of the mentally ill and the need to solve our state's financial mess." Hood said Wednesday in a statement.
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves blocked the bill before it was to become law July 1.
"I am convinced that continuing this divisive and expensive litigation is not in the best interests of the state of Mississippi or its taxpayers," Hood said.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has already filed a notice of appeal of UReeves' ruling. Bryant is using his own attorney in the appeal.
"I'm obviously disappointed the attorney general has abandoned his duty to defend the constitutionality of a duly enacted statute," Bryant said in a statement. "I have engaged nationally recognized appellate attorneys, at no cost to the taxpayers of Mississippi, to appeal the district court’s ruling."
The Republican-led Legislature passed House Bill 1523 this spring in response to last summer’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
The bill would allow clerks to cite religious objections to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and would protect merchants who refuse services to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people. It could affect adoptions and foster care, business practices and school bathroom policies.
Reeves found that it unconstitutionally establishes preferred beliefs and creates unequal treatment for gay people.
The attorney general’s office represented Hood and Bryant in multiple lawsuits that challenged the law. Bryant will be represented on appeal by two St. Louis-based attorneys who are not charging for their work, the governor’s spokesman Clay Chandler said Wednesday.
Hood said both critics and supporters of the bill acknowledge that the it did not change state or federal law. For example, there is no state law requiring pastors to marry same-sex couples, "and I doubt that the legislature would ever pass one," Hood said.
"Moreover, the Mississippi Legislature has already passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which protects a person’s right to exercise his or her religious beliefs," Hood said.
“To appeal HB 1523 and fight for an empty bill that dupes one segment of our population into believing it has merit while discriminating against another is just plain wrong. I don't believe that's the way to carry out Jesus' primary directives to protect the least among us and to love thy neighbor," he said.
Follow Jimmie E. Gates on Twitter: @jgatesnews. Contributing: The Associated Press
