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Justices: ‘Three Strikes Law’ unconstitutional

A four-year-old state statute aimed at limiting frivolous lawsuits filed by prison inmates is unconstitutional because it effectively closes the courthouse doors altogether for certain people, a split Indiana Supreme Court ruled today.Three of the five justices – Justices Theodore Boehm, Robert Rucker, and Brent Dickson – agreed that the state’s 2004 “Three Strikes Law” violates the Indiana Constitution’s Open Courts Clause. Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard and Justice Frank Sullivan disagreed and observed their colleagues’ decision means many Hoosier litigants…

High court clarifies evidence designation

The Indiana Supreme Court upheld a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a defendant and also clarified the designation of evidence in regards to Indiana Trial Rule 56(C). In Idan (John) Filip and Valaria Filip v. Carrie Block and 1st Choice Insurance Agency, No. 75S05-0704-CV-149, the Filips filed a suit against Block and 1st Choice, alleging negligence in the selection of insurance on an apartment building they purchased in 1999. Block was the insurance agent of the previous owner,…

Court orders re-trial after jury instruction error

The Indiana Court of Appeals has ordered a re-trial for a man convicted of attempted murder after ruling today the trial court failed to properly instruct the jury on accomplice liability.

Attorney to speak about politics, disabilities

Indianapolis attorney Gregory S. Fehribach will be in Muncie at Ball State University March 24 to speak to students about “The Politics of Disability” as part of Disability Awareness Month activities. The discussion is open to the public. Fehribach, a graduate and former student body president of Ball State, will speak about the importance of being engaged and involved in the political process to bring positive changes for people with disabilities. The attorney has dedicated a significant portion of his legal…

State files suit against mortgage lender

Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has filed a lawsuit against mortgage lender Countrywide Home Loans Inc. for questionable practices, making Indiana the fifth state to take action against the largest lender in the country. The suit, No. 76C01-0808-PL-652, was mailed to Steuben Circuit Court Aug. 22 and filed the same day. The suit, which includes Countrywide’s parent company, Countrywide Financial Corporation, alleges the company engaged in deceptive and misleading practices that put borrowers in potentially risky and costly loans. Carter’s investigation…

IU law alumnus gives $2 million for scholarships

Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington alumnus Bill Hunt and his wife, Nancy, have donated $2 million to be used to provide scholarships to students working toward a law degree at Indiana Law.

License revocations stayed for now

A panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals has temporarily blocked the state from revoking driver’s licenses that don’t match Social Security records.The preliminary injunction came June 6 in a case challenging the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ invalidations of licenses or identification cards on the sole basis of mismatched records.The decision comes in Lyn Leone, et al. v. Indiana BMV Commissioner, No. 49A02-0804-CV-00377, which is currently pending in the state’s second highest appellate court and is at the briefing stage…

Indiana chosen for non-resident father project

The Indiana Department of Child Services is one of four groups in the country selected to participate in a new pilot project to reach out to non-resident fathers whose children are involved in the child welfare system. DCS, in collaboration with Indiana Fathers and Families Center and the Indiana University School of Social Work, will receive nearly $500,000 in each of the next four years from the Administration of Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services….

Federal court dismisses suit against judge

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit against an Allen Circuit judge because the judge was entitled to judicial immunity in a suit filed by a pro se plaintiff disgruntled about a small claims ruling.

State senator dies at home

State Sen. David C. Ford, R – Hartford City, died this morning in his home from complications related to pancreatic cancer. He was 59 years old. The four-term lawmaker was receiving hospice care and chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer in January. He kept abreast of this session via telephone and computer. In 2007, Ford served as assistant majority floor leader and chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Technology. He also was a member of the Judiciary, Tax…

COA: Dealership not denied due process

he Indiana Court of Appeals directly addressed for the first time today the due process implications of an administrative law judge conducting a hearing without the participation of a party who received notice but couldn't be contacted by telephone at the time of the hearing. The appellate court found a car dealership's due process hadn't been violated when it failed to participate in a telephone hearing with the administrative law judge and a former employee.

Head Start considered a school

Teachers who work for a federally funded program to help children prepare for kindergarten are not eligible under Indiana statute for unemployment during summer breaks, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today. In South Bend Community School Corporation v. Linda D. Lucas, No. 93A02-0705-EX-387, the majority of judges agreed with South Bend that Head Start institutions should be considered schools under Indiana statute and therefore, its teachers are not allowed to collect unemployment during the summer. Lucas works as a teacher at…

Appeal dropped against Valpo clinic’s client

The first athlete to win an arbitration against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a client of the Valparaiso University School of Law’s Sports Law Clinic, has received another win. The World Anti-Doping Agency has dropped its appeal of last year’s decision in favor of a record-breaking sprinter, the university announced April 22.The ruling in United States Anti-Doping Agency v. LaTasha Jenkins in Jenkin’s favor was initially announced Dec. 12, 2007, and the 44-page decision was released Jan. 25, 2008, clearing her of charges…

Judges disagree on registration by homeless

Indiana Court of Appeals judges disagreed today in an opinion in which the majority ruled that a man who claimed he was temporarily homeless should be charged with violating the Indiana statute that requires registered sex offenders to provide their new address to authorities within seven days of a move. One judge dissented, saying their ruling would make homelessness a crime.Judges L. Mark Bailey and Ezra Friedlander affirmed Daniel J. Milliner’s conviction for failing to register as a sex offender and…

EBA executive director retires

Susan Helfrich, executive director of the Evansville Bar Association and Evansville Bar Foundation, retires today after nearly 25 years of service to the organizations.

Lawyer suspended for conversion, lying

The Indiana Supreme Court suspended a Vanderburgh County attorney today for at least three years for committing what the court describes as the most serious of ethical breaches.The court came to its decision In the matter of: Douglas W. Patterson, No. 82S00-0402-DI-90, as a result of Douglas Patterson’s conversion of client funds, deceit in concealing his misconduct, and dishonesty with the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.Patterson was an associate at a law firm which maintained a trust account. In 1999, Patterson and…

COA mulls ‘fraud’ in paternity affidavit statute

A man’s paternity cannot be revoked three years after he and the child’s mother fraudulently signed an affidavit establishing that he’s the legal father, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.The court’s unanimous ruling paves the way for a possible Indiana Supreme Court interpretation of this particular state statute, which this appellate panel believes was designed to protect a man’s paternal rights in the event he was defrauded – not when he was the one doing the deception along with the…

Court reverses joint tenancy interest ruling

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a finding that a mother and her daughter and son-in-law each held a one-half joint tenancy in a property, finding the parties actually held one-third undivided interest as joint tenants.