Courts

One of the most vocal civil liberties advocates battling Indiana’s voter identification law won’t make his pitch to the Supreme Court of the United States this week.When the nation’s highest court hears the much-anticipated arguments Wednesday morning, Indiana Solicitor General Tom Fisher will argue for the state attorney general’s office. But Ken Falk, who heads the legal department of American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, won’t face the justices, nor will Indianapolis attorney William Groth, who represents the plaintiff, the Indiana…

Indiana’s largest county has been chosen to join six other states in a series of leadership-development workshops to study juvenile justice reform nationally.On May 13, the non-profit Annie E. Casey Foundation selected Marion Superior Juvenile Magistrate Gary Chavers and Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Chris Ball to participate in the program because of their work recently on juvenile detention alternatives. For the past two years, the county has been Indiana’s only site participating in the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiatives (JDAI), which has…

A former Indiana Department of Correction inmate has filed a federal suit claiming that county jail staff and contracted medical personnel didn’t give him proper medical care and contributed to his development of cancer while he was behind bars.New Richmond resident Phillip Andrew Springer filed suit Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis seeking damages against the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, correctional authorities, and contracted medical providers for “deliberate indifference” to his medical needs while he was incarcerated. As a…

A trio of opinions from the Indiana Supreme Court gives trial courts additional guidance about how to handle prisoner claims regarding how credit time is applied to sentences.The three-ruling package deal came down late Thursday, with the court simultaneously granting transfer and deciding Keith Neff v. State of Indiana, No. 49S02-0806-CR-362; and Charles Young v. State of Indiana, Nos. 27S02-0806-PC-363 and 27S02-0806-PC-364.Justice Frank Sullivan authored the decisions that are all designed to clarify a ruling the Supreme Court made in Robinson v….

The Indiana Supreme Court is taking on three issues relating to sex-offender restrictions, from when juveniles can be placed on a statewide registry to whether someone can be placed on the list for life.Justices granted transfer in the past week for three criminal cases relating specifically to sex offenders and when people convicted of those crimes must have their names put on the online-accessible public registry.In J.C.C. v. State of Indiana, No. 49A02-0403-JV-266, the court is taking on a case that asks…

The Indiana Supreme Court says that insurance policy language “bodily injury” includes emotional distress subject to its own damage limits, but only if those making the claim are directly involved in the underlying accident or incident.A trio of anticipated rulings came late afternoon on Feb. 28 from the state’s highest court, with Justice Frank Sullivan authoring all three as they involve similar cases regarding insurance policy coverage of emotional distress. The cases are: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Patricia Jakupko, et…