Bossier legislator mulls religious freedom bill

Louisiana law doesn’t adequately protect citizens’ religious beliefs, says one local lawmaker considering writing legislation to change that.

State Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Bossier City, said Wednesday he’s mulling over a potential bill that would protect people from government actions against individuals or businesses with religious convictions, including those that endorse traditional views of marriage.

But he says it has nothing to do with an Indiana law that’s come under fire from LGBT advocates.

“It has no application at all to whether somebody who owns a restaurant (doesn’t) want to serve a sandwich to some patron for whatever reason,” he said.

The possible bill is in the brainstorming stages and might not be crafted before Friday’s deadline, Johnson said. The aim is “to protect individuals and entities against the state’s ability to discriminate against them based on their views on marriage or other controversial issues,” he said.

Johnson didn’t offer specific examples of how the measure would play out, or an incident from the past that inspired him.

“This would be in some sense prospective legislation,” he said. “You try to prevent a crisis before it occurs.”

Adrienne Critcher, political director of the Northwest Louisiana-based People Acting for Change and Equality, said it’s difficult to evaluate a bill that hasn’t been written.

“I don’t see the problem he’s addressing,” she said.

Critcher is concerned religious freedom measures will be used to further discriminate against gays and lesbians. It’s already legal in Louisiana — except in Shreveport and New Orleans — for a business owner to deny service to a same-sex couple based on the company’s religious beliefs, according to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, she said.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson refused to sign legislation designed to enhance protections for people with religious views Wednesday, saying the wording must be changed to mirror federal legislation. That decision came on the heels of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s approval of legislation last week which states government cannot “substantially burden” a person’s ability to follow their religious beliefs.

The legislation is being interpreted by opponents — but not Pence — as a means to allow business owners to discriminate against the LGBT community. It’s spurred protests from some citizens, lawmakers and businesses.

Pence said there’s nothing wrong with the bill, only with the perception it would allow discrimination.

Johnson, a Constitutional law expert who is open about his Christian beliefs on his website, is a visible part of the Shreveport-Bossier community, having led a rally of a few thousand people to end abortion in January, among other appearances. He was less forthcoming about his intent with the possible bill Wednesday than he was with other Louisiana publications earlier in the week.

“There are some who believe that we need to make it more specific or come up with a new statute,” he told The Advocate in an article published early Wednesday, referring to discussions among Louisiana legislators about Arkansas and Indiana religious freedom measures.

A Nola.com article on Tuesday stated, “Johnson said this measure would ensure that a business owner — a baker for example — who did not want to serve same-sex couples would not be able to get his license or incorporation approval pulled by the government for doing so.”

“No, I did not say that,” Johnson said Wednesday. Julia O’Donoghue, the Nola.com writer, wrote in an email Johnson hasn’t alerted her to the alleged error despite several calls she’s made to his office and said her story reflects her conversation with Johnson.

Johnson didn’t respond to a second call for comment.

Twitter: @mayalau