Articles

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Lapse in government funding worsens immigration backlog

The recent partial government shutdown — the longest in United States History — left federal lawyers scrambling as the government agencies they work with were shuttered, leaving cases unresolved, hearings missed and clients uncertain.

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Indiana appeals 18-hour ultrasound injunction to U.S. Supreme Court

Indiana is again appealing to the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn a preliminary injunction blocking a state abortion law, this one requiring women to get an ultrasound at least 18 hours before the procedure. The provision was included in House Enrolled Act 1337, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Mike Pence in 2016.

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Creation of agency settlement fund rankles Indiana AG

Indiana’s attorneys general have long participated in and even led multistate settlement work, but statutory language quietly slipped into the biennial budget during the 2017 legislative session has changed where the state’s portion of the money goes. And Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill’s office says the switch has curtailed the investigations it can now pursue.

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Judge reinstates credit time after DOC withholds potentially exculpatory evidence

An inmate who was one of more than 1,000 inmates in the Department of Correction with the last name “Taylor” has been granted habeas relief from a prison disciplinary proceeding, with a judge finding the man was denied due process when DOC officials failed to explain how he was selected as the correct “Taylor” in the proceedings.

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Prosecutor: New charges possible in Russia probe leak case

New charges and arrests are possible in the prosecution of a U.S. Treasury Department employee accused of giving a journalist confidential banking reports related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Treasury worker Natalie Edwards, 40, is awaiting trial on charges she gave a BuzzFeed journalist reports about wire transfers made by Paul Manafort and other suspects in Mueller’s investigation.

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Stone heads to court; Mueller cites potential evidence trove

Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone is due back in court Friday in the special counsel’s Russia investigation as prosecutors say they have recovered “voluminous and complex” potential evidence in the case, including financial records, emails and computer hard drives.

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Investiture ceremony for Judge Hanlon Friday

Judge James Patrick Hanlon, the newest addition to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, will be formally sworn in at a special ceremony starting at 2 p.m. Friday in the Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse. Southern Indiana Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson will preside over the en banc ceremony in the William E. Steckler Ceremonial Courtroom.

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Judge: Exonerated man’s suit against Elkhart police may proceed

A civil rights lawsuit filed by pardoned ex-prisoner Keith Cooper has been allowed to continue, with a federal judge ruling Tuesday that Cooper’s federal malicious prosecution and related claims are not time-barred. However, the judge also raised questions as to whether the relevant statute of limitations should be revised.

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Senate Judiciary Democrats hold over federal judicial nominees

In holding over nearly 50 judicial nominees Tuesday, including two renominees for the Northern Indiana District Court, Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee called for a return to the traditions of honoring blue slips and relying on the American Bar Association’s evaluations.

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Acting AG Whitaker says Russia probe ‘close’ to being completed

The special counsel’s Russia probe is “close to being completed,” the acting attorney general said in the first official sign that the investigation may be wrapping up. Meanwhile, the sixth former Trump aide indicted in the probe is due to make his initial court appearance today.

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Indiana federal courts work as funds dwindle amid shutdown

In the Southern and Northern Indiana district courts, no workers have been furloughed and no pay periods have been skipped, but with the federal judiciary estimating it has funding only to sustain current levels of operations through the end of January, Hoosier jurisdictions are preparing for potential changes.

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Indiana case shines spotlight on solitary confinement

No one denies that Aaron Isby-Israel made bad, even criminal, choices that landed him in the Indiana Department of Correction. What is disputed is whether Isby should have remained in solitary confinement for a total of 28 years.

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