Articles

7th Circuit vacates ruling in light of new uniform-rental law

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated in part a Southern District Court’s decision, asking it to reconsider whether an amended Indiana wage-deduction law could be retroactively applied to claims made against a former employer for withholding employee wages to rent work uniforms.

Read More

Appeals panel upholds Muncie doctor’s convictions

The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed the forgery and prescription-related offenses for a Muncie doctor alleged to have overprescribed pain medication to patients by using his nurse practitioners’ names to sign the orders.

Read More

Judgment for INDOT upheld in fatal crash litigation

Even though the Indiana Department of Transportation declined to install a traffic signal at a Tippecanoe County intersection where a deadly crash later occurred, the Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld summary judgment for the department, finding it was immune from liability under the Indiana Tort Claims Act.

Read More

CHINS reversal: ‘State may not intrude’ where coercion unnecessary

A father who was ordered removed from the home he shared with his wife and four children despite a clean record and no prior reports of domestic violence won a ruling in his favor Wednesday. The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a CHINS finding and concluded, “when coercion is not necessary, the State may not intrude into a family’s life.”

Read More

Car search after meth dealer’s arrest divides COA panel

A suspected Morgan County meth dealer who pulled his truck into his driveway as police were executing a search warrant on his property failed to overturn his conviction on appeal, but a dissenting judge found a police search of his vehicle after he was arrested failed to “honor the distinction between homes and motor vehicles for purposes of search and seizure.”

Read More

Appeals court upholds removal of Gary reserve officer

A Gary reserve officer suspended but later reinstated must now remain off the force after the Indiana Court of Appeals agreed that the Gary Police Department presented evidence of the reserve officer’s “repeated and blatant noncompliance” with orders.

Read More

Indiana fetal disposition law upheld by U.S. Supreme Court

Indiana’s law mandating that fetal remains be either buried or cremated has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in a per curiam opinion issued Tuesday that found the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals had “clearly erred” in overturning the law. However, in the same opinion, the Supreme Court let stand a ruling which blocked another Indiana law that would have prevented abortions based on the gender, race or genetic abnormality of the fetus.  

Read More

Civil commitment laws shifting across states

While Indiana justices recently stressed the great public importance of proper adjudication of soaring mental health filings, states across the country are dealing with rising caseloads in no uniform way.

Read More

Gary lawsuit against gun makers may proceed, COA rules

A unanimous appellate panel has revived the city of Gary’s lawsuit against 10 handgun manufacturers, enabling the municipality to survive the Indiana General Assembly’s attempt to derail the legal action by amending the state’s Immunity Statute in 2015.

Read More

COA: No error in ruling over disputed gravel driveway

A dispute between two neighbors concerning who was permitted use a gravel driveway splitting their properties ended in favor of a woman who argued she paid taxes and had been using the entry for more than 20 years before her neighbors showed up.

Read More