Latest News - The Indiana Lawyer

Lake County Bar: Judicial-selection bill an ‘abomination,’ ‘political power play’

February 18, 2021 | IL Staff

The Lake County Bar Association on Thursday issued the most damning rebuke to date of a bill in the Indiana General Assembly that would alter how judges in that county and St. Joseph County are selected. The northwest Indiana county’s bar called the bill “an abomination” and “a political power play by parties not even within Lake County to take even more power away from the people of Lake County in selecting their judges.”

Grandparent visitation order remanded in dispute with guardians

February 18, 2021 | Dave Stafford

A court order granting a Johnson County grandmother overnight visitation with her 4-year-old grandchild lacked the required statutory findings to support it, but the Indiana Court of Appeals in a first-of-its-kind ruling involving a child’s guardians found enough evidence to let the order stand while remanding for more conclusive findings.

Justices take up disputes over teachers contracts, online user data

February 18, 2021 | IL Staff

Members of the state’s highest court last week turned away nine cases on petition for transfer but agreed to hear arguments in three cases, including disputes over the legality of teacher contracts and two media companies’ litigation over the use of consumer data.

Newfields president resigns amid staff, community pushback

February 18, 2021 | Mickey Shuey, Indianapolis Business Journal

The president of Newfields resigned from his position Wednesday amid mounting staff and community criticism over a controversial job listing for the Indianapolis Museum of Art that described a need to attract a more diverse set of patrons while “maintaining the museum’s traditional, core, white art audience.”

Executioners sanitized accounts of deaths in federal cases

February 18, 2021 | Associated Press

Executioners who put 13 inmates to death in the last months of the Trump administration likened the process of dying by lethal injection to falling asleep and called gurneys “beds” and final breaths “snores.” The sworn accounts by executioners, which government filings cited as evidence the lethal injections were going smoothly, raise questions about whether officials misled courts to ensure the executions scheduled from July to mid-January were done before death penalty opponent Joe Biden became president.

House votes to override governor’s veto of landlord-tenant bill, allowing it to become law

February 18, 2021 | Lindsey Erdody, Indianapolis Business Journal

The GOP-controlled Indiana House has voted to override Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s veto of a controversial landlord-tenant bill, allowing the measure to become law. The measure could eliminate local regulation of rental properties, most notably in Indianapolis. Both Holcomb and Democratic Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett expressed disappointment in the Legislature.

ISBA opposes bill to change judicial selection in Lake, St. Joseph counties

February 17, 2021 | Olivia Covington

For the second time this year, the Indiana State Bar Association is publicly opposing legislation targeting judicial selection in Indiana, this time speaking against a bill that it says would “unnecessarily change a working system” for judicial selection in Lake and St. Joseph counties.

Senate taking different approach to tighten governor’s executive powers

February 17, 2021 | Lindsey Erdody, Indianapolis Business Journal

The Indiana Senate is moving forward with a bill to curtail the governor’s executive order privileges that is significantly different from the House version of the legislation designed to curtail emergency powers.

Lawmakers kill bill that would have stripped control of IMPD from city

February 17, 2021 | Lindsey Erdody, Indianapolis Business Journal

Legislation that would have stripped control of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department from the city’s mayor is dead for the year. Meanwhile, a separate police oversight bill was voted down in committee by request of its author.

Bill challenging ‘noncompliant’ prosecutors advances without prosecutors’ support

February 17, 2021 | Olivia Covington

A bill that would allow the Indiana attorney general to step in if local elected prosecutors decline to file criminal charges narrowly passed a Senate committee Tuesday without the support of public defenders or Indiana prosecutors. A longtime advocate said when both sides in criminal matters oppose legislation, lawmakers should take notice.

Appeals court rejects bid to cut 120-year sentence in Gary double-slaying

February 17, 2021 | Olivia Covington

A Gary man convicted of a 2003 double-murder failed to convince an appeals panel that his 120-year sentence should be reduced. The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected the arguments Wednesday.

St. Joseph judge who retired back on bench amid appointment stalemate

February 17, 2021 | Dave Stafford

The Indiana Supreme Court on Monday issued an order appointing Miller, now a senior judge, back to the court she attempted to retire from last year. The order authorizes Miller to serve as a St. Joseph Superior Court judge until May 1 as a fight over her potential successor plays out in another court.

COA upholds denial of grandparents’ adoption petition

February 17, 2021 | Olivia Covington

A request by grandparents to adopt a grandson found to be a child in need of services was properly denied, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, upholding a trial court’s determination that adoption was not in the child’s best interests.

Congressman sues Trump, alleging he incited deadly Capitol riot

February 17, 2021 | Associated Press

The House Homeland Security chairman accused Donald Trump in a federal lawsuit Tuesday of inciting the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and conspiring with his lawyer and extremist groups to try to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden.

AG Rokita declined to sign bipartisan letter condemning Capitol attack

February 17, 2021 | Dave Stafford and Lindsey Erdody, Indianapolis Business Journal

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, whose Valentine’s Day social media tweet alluding to a stolen election post briefly drew a Twitter warning, declined weeks earlier to sign a nearly universal statement of attorneys general condemning the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol. Separately, the Republican AG is facing calls for records surrounding his decision to remain employed as an adviser to a private company while also holding statewide elected office.

Congress shifts focus to security failures after impeachment

February 17, 2021 | Associated Press

In the still-shaken and heavily guarded U.S. Capitol, thousands of National Guard troops wander the halls. Glass windows remain broken. Doors swing without handles. And in the grand marble hallways, which amplified the shouts of insurrectionists just over a month ago, there is an uncomfortable silence.

AG Rokita swings back after Twitter slap

February 17, 2021 | Marilyn Odendahl

After Twitter flagged his Valentine’s Day tweet alleging election fraud, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is doubling down, repeating his claims while offering no proof, asserting the tech giant is censoring his freedom of speech and voicing his support for legislation that would give the Statehouse more power in changing the state’s election laws.

Draining protection: Deregulation bill sends conservationists scrambling to save Indiana wetlands

February 17, 2021 | Katie Stancombe

A controversial bill that would do away with state regulation of Indiana’s wetlands is on the fast track to becoming law, throwing environmental agencies and conservation advocates into a frenzy. Farmers and land developers support the legislation, arguing wetland regulations are burdensome.

Taft builds new lobby group with Ice Miller transplants

February 17, 2021 | Marilyn Odendahl

Taft Stettinius & Hollister is making a big push into public affairs and lobbying in both Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., and has nabbed seven attorneys and nonlawyer professionals — including several big names in Indiana politics — from rival Ice Miller to do it.

Web Exclusive: Lozano Bar supports Latino lawyers with personal, professional resources

February 17, 2021 | Olivia Covington

Shared experiences bring people together. That’s particularly true of the members of the Rudy Lozano Bar Association, a northwest Indiana group dedicated to serving Latino legal professionals. Formerly known as the Northwest Indiana Hispanic Bar Association, the group filed articles of incorporation under its new name in February 2020. Its namesake is the late federal Judge Rodolfo “Rudy” Lozano, who died in July 2018.

Articles