A group of Democratic attorneys general scored a minor victory this month against Uncle Sam and religious small business owners. In a split decision, a 9th Circuit panel ruled that those attorneys’ states have standing to sue the Trump administration for providing a religious exemption to the Obama administration’s mandate requiring nearly all employers cover the full cost of all types of birth control, including sterilization and morning-after pills that can act as abortifacients.

Last week, the attorneys general followed up by filing a lawsuit asserting that their states are somehow harmed by the federal government’s refusal to persecute employers who take advantage of the exemption.