Criminal Charges

A new law should erase a “jurisdictional gap” that has allowed people who commit offenses before their 18th birthday to essentially avoid legal consequences as long as charges weren’t filed until after they turned 21.

Although Indiana Republican legislators have been adamant that the state’s new abortion ban does not criminalize women, attorneys who have been reading the statute maintain the language is vague and prosecutors still have discretion.

A man with a mental disability who has for years claimed he was wrongfully convicted of an Elkhart murder and who spent more than 15 years behind bars can proceed to a new trial after the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a post-conviction relief order vacating his murder conviction.

House Bill 1068 would allow for the creation of local justice reinvestment advisory councils modeled after the statewide JRAC. The local councils would be tasked with reviewing criminal justice practices on a county or regional level, collecting data and reporting back to JRAC, which would use the data to make policy decisions.