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The Indiana Supreme Court announced Thursday that it has approved a new conditional agreement between Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and the court’s disciplinary commission, dismissing the second disciplinary complaint filed against Rokita as “moot.”
According to the court’s order, the parties agreed to the following joint statement: “Using the Indiana Supreme Court’s own words, Respondent affirms that he ‘really meant it’ when he signed the affidavit accepting responsibility for violations of the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct, and that he signed the affidavit voluntarily.”
An attorney for Rokita, James Ammeen of Ammeen & Associates LLC, did not immediately respond to The Indiana Lawyer’s request for comment.
Rokita’s office also did not immediately respond for comment.
Karen Tallian, Indiana Democratic Party chair released a statement to The Lawyer that read: “If it weren’t so disgraceful, it would be hilarious. The top court of the state ruled on a disciplinary action against Todd Rokita for making irresponsible disgusting remarks. Rokita, who is supposed to be the top attorney in the state, replied with borderline contemptuous remarks. He was then disciplined again by that same high court, and finally he says: ‘Oh, yeah, I really really meant I was really truly sorry.’ All this legal grandstanding is estimated to have cost Hoosier taxpayers over $500,000 in legal fees and costs. To what end? As an attorney, I find this behavior a shameful reflection on the legal profession.”
Rokita made the affirmation to “clarify any real or perceived confusion” that followed the public statements he made after the high court issued a public reprimand against him in 2023 for the comments he made about Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an OB-GYN who had told The Indianapolis Star about a medical abortion she performed for a 10-year-old rape victim.
The victim came to Indiana for the abortion because her home state of Ohio prohibited it at that time.
“The only condition the parties place on their agreement to the joint statement is that the Court accept their proposal that the statement warrants dismissing this matter as now moot,” stated the court order.
Last month, Rokita and the commission agreed to select James Riley Jr., of counsel for Indianapolis-based firm Riley Bennett Egloff LLP, as a mediator to help resolve their long-running, bitter dispute over Rokita’s hostile response following the discipline he received in his first disciplinary case.
This second case arose after the commission had accused Rokita of misleading the Indiana Supreme Court when he signed a separate conditional agreement accepting responsibility for his actions in an earlier disciplinary case, and then making what the commission considered to be contradictory public statements.
The order can be found here.
This story will be updated.
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