Articles

Request for study of court costs receives initial Senate approval

Questions regarding certain Indiana court costs might be addressed this summer if a study committee is approved to look into the issue in the coming months. Senate Resolution 52 requests that the Legislative Council assign the topics of court costs for indigent individuals and the look-back period for prior unrelated convictions in Indiana's criminal code to a summer study committee.

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Civil remedy revenge porn bill passes House

Hoosiers hurting from the aftermath of a revenge porn incident are closer to gaining some relief from their perpetrators now that a bill that would offer them civil remedies has passed both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly. Measures that would make committing revenge porn a crime, however, look less likely to succeed.

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2 death row inmates make similar requests, get different results

Death row inmates Patrick Murphy and Domineque Ray each turned to courts recently with pleas to stop their executions if their desired spiritual advisers couldn't accompany them into the execution chamber. The Supreme Court  allowed Ray’s execution to go forward, but gave Murphy a temporary reprieve Thursday night.

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Canadian man facing drug charges seeks passport’s return

A Canadian man who allegedly had 127 pounds of cocaine hidden inside his vehicle wants northwestern Indiana authorities to return his passport. A Porter County judge ordered Hobart police Monday to return all of Denis Mesumb’s belongings, except for his Canadian passport, and set a Wednesday hearing to consider its release.

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7th Circuit case highlights confusion over online home value ‘Zestimates’

The 7th Circuit both rejected proposed class action lawsuit against the website Zillow, but Realtors and real estate attorneys still have concerns about whether its “Zestimates” are unnecessarily misleading. Zillow, however, insists its estimation practices are transparent and legal, thus making their home valuations a beneficial tool for buyers and sellers.

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IU profs contribute to ruling upholding short-term rental regulation

With the help of an amicus brief from several professors — including two from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business — Santa Monica, California successfully urged the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold its local regulation of short-term rental properties offered through websites such as Airbnb.

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AG Hill’s attorney discipline case raises new questions

The disciplinary complaint against Hill raises new questions about the disciplinary process itself, including who can preside over the proceedings and what would happen if the state’s chief legal officer loses his law license, even temporarily. But those questions aside, ethics attorneys say Hill’s status as a prominent elected official shouldn’t have any bearing on the nuts and bolts of the discipline process.

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CHINS adjudication reversed for mom who tested clean

A mother whose kids were found to be children in need of services despite her successful efforts to stay sober and get the help she needed found favor with an appellate panel Monday, who reversed the CHINS adjudication on the basis of insufficient evidence.

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Judge lets South Bend abortion clinic challenge proceed

National healthcare and abortion providers seeking to open an abortion clinic in northern Indiana received a ruling in their favor last week when a federal judge denied the state’s motion to dismiss a complaint challenging the constitutionality of Indiana abortion clinic licensing regulations.

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COA takes criminal recklessness case to Munster H.S.

Questions of whether certain witnesses should have been excused from testifying in a criminal recklessness case for violating a separation of witnesses orders will be considered by a traveling appellate panel Thursday at Munster High School.

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