Articles

Fraudster Durham wins hearing on whether lawyer’s $1M fee created conflict

Fair Finance fraud felon Tim Durham will get a chance to grill his former trial attorney over whether his $1 million wire fraud defense representation fee created a conflict of interest between money the lawyer could pocket versus paying for witnesses Durham claims could have testified in his favor. A federal judge recently granted a new hearing on that and other grounds as Durham seeks to chisel away at his 50-year prison sentence.

Read More

Judge orders insurance CEO to attend settlement conference

Despite repeated objections, an insurance company’s CEO has been ordered to personally attend an upcoming settlement conference in a contractor’s defamation suit against the insurer. Nationwide Insurance CEO Stephen R. Rasmussen failed to persuade either a magistrate judge or the presiding judge that his presence was unnecessary at a settlement conference in a lawsuit brought by ARAC Roof it Forward.

Read More

1st black, female major general in U.S Army speaks at federal courts’ Black History event

Dozens gathered to belatedly celebrate Black History Month on Friday at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, but the delay only heightened the joyful celebration. A crowd gathered to hear from honorary guest Major General Marcia Anderson, the first African-American woman to achieve the rank of major general in the history of the United States Army.

Read More

Divided 7th Circuit lifts injunction against Indiana fetal-tissue research ban

An Indianapolis judge’s ruling that blocked an Indiana law effectively banning stem cell research derived from aborted fetal tissue was reversed by a divided 7th Circuit Court of Appeals panel Thursday. The 2-1 decision is a defeat for Indiana University researchers challenging the ban, and a dissenting judge questioned the state’s motivation and intent behind a law he said threatens IU research into potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders.

Read More

Judge sanctions lawyer, ex-DOC nurse in inmate abuse case

After declaring her trust in the statements submitted by defendants in prisoner litigation cases “shattered,” a federal judge imposed sanctions — some as as severe as default judgment — on a former prison nurse and her attorney accused of misconduct as serious as perjury.

Read More
hanlon-investiture-450bp.jpg

Family, colleagues celebrate Hanlon at public investiture

Tilting the microphone down from the podium, the youngest daughter of new Southern District Judge James Patrick Hanlon drew smiles from his investiture crowd as she characterized her father as a hardworking man who always makes time for his kids.

Read More
solitary-450bp.jpg

Indiana case shines spotlight on solitary confinement

No one denies that Aaron Isby-Israel made bad, even criminal, choices that landed him in the Indiana Department of Correction. What is disputed is whether Isby should have remained in solitary confinement for a total of 28 years.

Read More

Judge: State’s ‘bureaucratic quagmire’ harms disabled woman

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration has 21 days to arrange home health care for an elderly woman with quadriplegia who has been confined to a hospital or nursing home since February 2016, a federal judge has ruled. The decision comes after the judge ruled previously that the FSSA’s failure to develop a home-based care plan violated the woman’s rights under three federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Read More