In endorsing legislation allowing more people convicted of Level 6 felonies to be sentenced to the Department of Correction, an Indiana House Republican said the move was the result of learning from recent data. But some House Democrats said the bill was actually a sign that the Legislature had failed in its wide-ranging criminal justice reform bill passed nearly a decade ago.
A man convicted of dealing in meth after a report of his text messages describing a drug deal was used against him has lost his argument on appeal that the report should not have been admitted as evidence.
A Noblesville high school student alleging her school discriminated against her when it prohibited her from running a pro-life student group has lost her bid to transfer the case away from Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker based on allegations of the judge’s “personal animus” toward pro-life views.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is moving forward with his bid to have the Indiana Supreme Court overturn a law allowing the Legislature to call itself into special session, arguing in a new filing that the contested law is akin to a constitutional amendment that must be voted on by Hoosiers.
Despite the “dire” financial downturn caused by COVID-related business closures, the Indiana Repertory Theatre cannot claim loss-of-use coverage under its insurance policy because the theater was not physically damaged, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has affirmed.
A mother who brought claims for emotional distress after learning that her disabled daughter had been sexually abused can once again proceed with her case after a majority of the Indiana Supreme Court created a new rule eliminating the proximity requirement for emotional distress recovery. A dissenting justice, however, warned that the “watershed” ruling could have a wider-ranging impact than anticipated.
A central Indiana school district must give the local high school’s gay-straight alliance access to the same advertising and fundraising resources as other noncurricular organizations, a federal judge has ruled, issuing an injunction after finding a violation of the Equal Access Act.
In addition to the “big news” of the year, Indiana Lawyer also provided readers in 2021 with stories exploring lawyers’ off-the-clock interests, obituaries of lawyers and judges who died, and summaries of disciplinary actions.
Indiana Lawyer produces hundreds of stories each calendar year, covering topics ranging from appellate court opinions to Statehouse hearings to law firm combinations and more. Here’s a look at the 50 stories that you, our readers, engaged with the most in 2021 and their original dates of publication on the IL website.
Like 2020 before it, 2021 was a year that brought regular waves of breaking news to the Indiana Lawyer news desk. From vaccines to lawsuits to legislation to law firms, it was difficult to narrow down the year’s most important stories. So here are five additional stories that the IL staff thought were noteworthy in 2021.
Here’s a look at the top stories reported on by Indiana Lawyer in 2021, as voted on by the IL staff.
An Indianapolis man convicted of multiple drug and firearm felonies failed to convince the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that there were evidentiary or constitutional errors in his case that warranted a reversal.
An Indianapolis man who was awarded $3,000 in a small claims dispute with a fence installation company has failed in convince the Court of Appeals of Indiana that the corporate veil should have been pierced in his case.
Federal legislation designed to protect members of the judiciary in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of one judge’s son at his home is advancing through the U.S. Senate.
Despite a motions panel allowing a belated appeal in an employment dispute, a different panel of the Court of Appeals of Indiana dismissed the appeal as forfeited, finding no “extraordinarily compelling” reasons to restore it.
Here’s my plea to those who are studying cameras in Hoosier courtrooms: Don’t let this pilot program just be lip service.
A man accused of kidnapping and confining his girlfriend must face felony charges after the Court of Appeals of Indiana reinstated the case against him, finding the trial court misapplied the law in dismissing the charging information.
The issues of jurisdiction and employment relationships were at the center of arguments before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday as three of the four women who accused former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill of drunkenly groping them asked the appellate panel to reinstate their federal lawsuit against the state.
As the four women who accused former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill of sexual misconduct are preparing to take their Title VII case to the 7th Circuit, Hill is preparing to defend himself in state court, releasing a list of witnesses that includes more than two dozen lawmakers.
A woman’s appeal of her involuntary mental health commitment has been dismissed as moot because she has already been released from commitment. However, the Court of Appeals of Indiana split sharply in the decision, with the dissenting judge calling on the Indiana Supreme Court to clarify recent precedent on how appeals of temporary involuntary commitments should be decided.