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Judges need more details on reduction denial

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals is sending the denial of a defendant’s motion for a sentence reduction back to the District Court because the Circuit Court needs more than the one-sentence explanation given by the lower court. U.S. District Court Judge Larry J. McKinney of the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, denied Kelvin Marion’s motion to reduce his sentence under Section 3582(c)(2) on a form order that simply said “As directed by 18 U.S.C. § 3581(c)(2) the Court…

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Grants available for family, child projects

The Indiana Court Improvement Program is accepting applications for grants for projects that will improve the safety, well-being, and permanency of families and children involved in neglect and child abuse proceedings.

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St. Joe judges election bill hearing Wednesday

The Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Room 130 at the Statehouse to discuss several bills on first reading, including House Bill 1491, which would require nonpartisan elections of St. Joseph Superior judges.

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Lake County fee bill moves forward

The House Judiciary Committee met this morning to consider five bills that included assessing a $10 fee for Lake County court filings, which would be used to fund a consolidated judicial center.

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Casino wins compulsive gambling appeal

Casinos don't have a common law duty to protect compulsive gamblers from themselves, and aren't required to refrain from trying to entice those people into their establishments, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today in a matter of first impression.

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District Court erred in drug sentence

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a man's sentence for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine because the District Court failed to figure out the quantity of the drug reasonably attributable to the defendant.

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Some Lake civil cases go to random filing

Attorneys opening new civil cases in Lake County should note that a new random filing system is being put in place, a plan described as the most extensive use of this in the county's history.

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7th Circuit warns attorneys about compliance

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals chastised the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Indiana’s Northern District to “get its act together” to comply strictly with a statute that imposes a mandatory life sentence for a defendant convicted of a drug offense with two prior drug convictions.

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Court erred in ordering DCS to pay costs

The Indiana Department of Child Services isn't responsible for the costs of a minor's secure detention because it never entered into a written agreement with the juvenile court to cover the costs, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.

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Professor testifies about recusal

A professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington was in Washington, D.C., Thursday to testify before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommitee on Courts and Competition.Professor and judicial ethics expert Charles G. Geyh told the committee that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Caperton v. A.T. Massey serves as a wake-up call to state and federal courts to begin taking judicial disqualifications more seriously. Geyh gave a general outlook on judicial disqualification, noting the challenges in having sitting…

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Judges: Town ordinance invalid

The Indiana Court of Appeals declared today a Plainfield town ordinance authorizing the imposition of storm-water fees on properties outside of the town's corporate boundaries to be invalid because under Indiana Code, the town only has the authority to collect the fee within its corporate limits.

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COA rules on first impression lemon-law issue

The Indiana Court of Appeals tackled today an issue of first impression regarding the state's lemon law: Once a consumer has met the law's repair threshold, he can still file an action under the lemon law even if a subsequent repair fixes the problem.

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Judges uphold mail fraud conviction

Although it noted the question was a "close one," the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals determined there was sufficient evidence to support a man's conviction of mail fraud in his scheme to defraud the government out of money for work he didn't complete.

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Marion County presiding judge named

The state's largest county court system has new leadership for the next two years. Marion Superior Judge Robert Altice, a Republican, became presiding judge of the court system for a two-year term.

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Man wasn’t competent to sign contract

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a neighbor of a mentally ill man shouldn't have been able to purchase the man's farm because the man was incompetent when he signed the sales contract.

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Shutdown wouldn’t cripple legal system

As the clock ticked closer to a partial shutdown of state government, the Hoosier legal community received word this afternoon from the Indiana Supreme Court that trial courts should conduct business as usual and that the state's legal system would continue as much as possible if lawmakers fail to pass a budget by deadline.

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