Federal agencies - The Indiana Lawyer

Indiana joins brief seeking to halt EPA-led plan to clean up Chesapeake Bay

February 25, 2014

Decades of squabbles over cleaning up one of America’s most historic but polluted waters resulted in an agreement between states and the federal government that supporters say could restore the Chesapeake Bay to a swimmable, fishable national treasure. But if Indiana and other states without a direct stake in the Chesapeake have their way, the cleanup hashed out between bay states and the Environmental Protection Agency will be stopped.

Proposed rule clears up ambiguities on release of mental health patients’ names

February 11, 2014

What the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services calls a modification to rules protecting patient privacy has sparked similar outcries from groups that might normally find themselves opposing each other. The National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Gun Owners of America both have come out against a proposed rule change to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that would allow health care entities to release the names of some mental health patients to the national firearm background check system.

Man is first charged under federal human trafficking law

February 5, 2014

U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett announced Tuesday that his office has filed a nine-count federal indictment against an Indianapolis man for human trafficking. These are first-of-a-kind charges in Indiana, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Indiana.

Judge rejects Notre Dame bid for injunction on contraception coverage

December 24, 2013

A federal judge denied the University of Notre Dame’s request for an injunction blocking the “contraception mandate” in the Affordable Care Act that requires employers to provide insurance coverage for birth control.

Cybersecurity expert: ruling on surveillance program ‘extraordinarily significant’

December 18, 2013

Indiana University Maurer School of Law professor Fred Cate heralded the decision handed down Dec. 16 by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon as possibly landing a crippling blow to the federal government’s surveillance program.

24 more school corps join IRS lawsuit on employer mandate

December 9, 2013

Twenty-four additional school corporations have joined the lawsuit filed in October by the state of Indiana and 15 school corporations against the Internal Revenue Service challenging the tax penalties that could be imposed in 2015 under the “employer mandate” of the Affordable Care Act.

SCOTUS takes ACA ‘contraception mandate’ cases

November 26, 2013

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear two cases that could determine whether companies that provide health insurance to employees can be required under the new health care law to provide coverage for birth control.

US Supreme Court takes pass on cyberspying petition

November 19, 2013

Although the Supreme Court of the United States decided Monday, not to consider a petition challenging the legality of the National Security Agency’s surveillance activities, one cybersecurity expert at IU expects the issue will eventually come before the nine justices.

‘Contraception mandate’ goes before SCOTUS

November 19, 2013

A Madison family business is at the forefront of a legal challenge the Supreme Court of the United States will conference over Nov. 26 – whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act “contraception mandate” violates the religious liberties of company owners whose faith proscribes birth control.

7th Circuit blocks Obamacare ‘contraception mandate’

November 11, 2013

Roman Catholic employers – including the owners of an Indiana company – won a Circuit Court ruling Friday blocking the “contraception mandate” contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.

State, public schools sue federal government over Obamacare

October 8, 2013

Fifteen Indiana school districts and the state of Indiana have filed a lawsuit challenging the federal health care law and subsidies that are available to Hoosiers under rules set by the IRS.

Zoeller joins multi-state call for e-cigarette regulation

September 26, 2013

The Food and Drug Administration should restrict the sale and marketing of increasingly popular e-cigarettes, particularly to minors, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller advocates in joining a letter signed by AGs from 36 other states and three U.S. territories.

Farm smells ignite debate but no consensus reached

August 27, 2013

Before dinner can be prepared and served at the table, the food has to be raised on a farm. However, Old MacDonald’s Farm with its placid scenes of pigs and cows is a shrinking segment of American farming, being replaced with large industrial agricultural operations with hundreds and thousands of animals.

Ethanol plant emissions suit may be bound for Indiana Supreme Court

August 27, 2013

Indiana’s ethanol industry faces an uncertain regulatory environment and likely more stringent emissions standards after a recent Indiana Court of Appeals ruling. A state agency will ask the Indiana Supreme Court to hear the case, as several corn-to-fuel plant operators also are expected to do.

Contract termination ends health care provider’s eligibility for federal funds

August 2, 2013

Finding that the status of the grant holder had changed, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Citizens Health Corp. is no longer eligible for Section 330 federal monies.

Attorney says Washington nonprofit’s complaints are part of ‘smear’ campaign

July 10, 2013

Terre Haute conservative attorney James Bopp Jr. says that an IRS whistleblower suit and other complaints alleging Bopp has diverted funds from the nonprofit James Madison Center for Free Speech to his law firm are part of a “smear machine” by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

7th Circuit dismisses campground owner’s appeal after raising new arguments

July 3, 2013

A Cedar Grove campground owner’s appeal regarding the judgment that the campground is subject to the Safe Drinking Water Act raised an “interesting question,” the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals noted, but the judges dismissed the appeal because the owner raised arguments for the first time on appeal.

Indy organization part of first-ever settlement involving REO properties

June 6, 2013

The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana is one of 13 fair-housing organizations that will split a $27 million settlement from Wells Fargo Bank with the National Fair Housing Alliance after a complaint alleged the bank better maintained its real estate properties in white neighborhoods.

Court split over whether petition for review should be dismissed

April 26, 2013

The dissenting judge in a case involving the dismissal of a company’s petition for judicial review of a decision by the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission believed the petition must be dismissed based on the language of the Administrative Orders and Procedures Act. The majority ordered resolution of the issue on the merits.

First-Inventor-to-File system creates uncertainty

April 9, 2013

The historic change in the patent system puts U.S. in step with other industrialized countries.

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