Indiana Supreme Court disciplinary commission quashes Rokita’s attempt to end inquiry into rules violation

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court’s disciplinary commission has quashed Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s attempt to dismiss an ongoing inquiry into his violation of professional conduct rules.

In 2023, Rokita was the subject of a disciplinary complaint and reprimanded by the Indiana Supreme Court in reference to public comments and statements surrounding his office’s investigation into Dr. Caitlin Bernard between July 2022 and September 2022.

The Indiana Supreme Court’s disciplinary commission ruled that Rokita violated Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct by going on Fox News and making comments about Bernard that risked prejudicing a legal proceeding, such as calling her an “abortion activist acting as a doctor.”

Rokita nearly escaped the hot water after coming to an agreement with the disciplinary commission where he accepted responsibility. This would have been the end of the matter until Rokita allegedly went back on the agreement by issuing a press release where he publicly denied any responsibility.

The commission, now finding Rokita “wasn’t being truthful when he told us he was accepting responsibility,” continued to push forward with their investigation into disciplinary action against the attorney general.

Rokita tried to quash the matter by filing to have the entire inquiry into his conduct dismissed, but on Friday the Indiana Supreme Court’s disciplinary commission denied this request.

Justice Geoffrey Slaughter likened the ordeal to a criminal suspect pleading guilty, being given a modest sentence as part of the agreement to plead guilty, and then — upon release — telling everyone they were innocent and did nothing wrong.

In a unanimous conclusion issued on Friday, the disciplinary commission announced it has appointed a hearing officer panel to preside over the matter, review and receive evidence as well as help conclude on any potential disciplinary action against Rokita.

“When our state’s highest court must enlist our profession’s most respected leaders as hearing officers to litigate at considerable expense whether the state’s attorney general was sincere when saying sorry, we’re in a hole — so we should all do what we can at least to stop making things worse,” wrote Justice Derek Molter.