Articles

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Professor: Regulation of lawyer speech undermines judiciary

Legal professionals work within the Rules of Professional Conduct, so they don’t want to make any comments that might be perceived as unduly critical of others in the profession — a profession built largely on respect and civility. But according to an Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law professor, the unease surrounding Rule 8.2(a) is not a matter of respect, but rather a matter of lawyer fear.

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Judge lets Tippecanoe Right to Life free speech case proceed

A Tippecanoe County anti-abortion group’s free speech lawsuit against the local public transportation company will continue after a district court judge denied Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corporation’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.

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Justices: Fantasy sports excepted from right of publicity

The Indiana Supreme Court answered a certified question posed by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on how Indiana’s right-to-publicity statute affects the fantasy sports industry, finding sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel are shielded by an exception for material with newsworthy value.

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Ball State settles free speech suit with campus pro-life group

Ball State University has agreed to pay more than $12,000 and to revise its student activity fund allocation guidelines as part of a settlement with a pro-life student organization that sued the school earlier this summer for alleged free speech and equal protection violations.

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AG Hill signs Indiana onto retaliatory arrest case

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has signed onto another multi-state Supreme Court amicus brief, this one challenging a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that allowed a retaliatory arrest lawsuit to proceed against Alaska police officers despite probable cause supporting the arrest.

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Amish couple sues 2 agencies over photos their faith forbids

An Amish couple with 13 children sued the federal government on Wednesday, accusing officials of violating their constitutional rights by insisting that they provide photographs of themselves before the Canadian wife’s request to become a permanent U.S. resident can be approved.

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1993 World Trade Center bomber sues over prison faith rights

A Muslim man serving a life sentence in Terre Haute for his role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center wants a judge to determine that federal prison officials violated his religious rights by failing to provide meals strictly conforming to his beliefs and access to an imam of the same denomination.

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Leaker of secret report on Russian hacking gets 5 years

Former government contractor Reality Winner, who pleaded guilty to mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization, was sentenced to more than five years Thursday as part of a plea deal. Prosecutors called it the longest sentence ever imposed for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.

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Fort Wayne settles suit challenging amplified-noise statute

Indiana’s second-largest city has settled a federal lawsuit that challenged a portion of its ordinance regulating amplified noises. Court documents filed Tuesday show the city of Fort Wayne has agreed to an injunction permanently barring it from enforcing a provision that “prohibits amplified sound, including speech, that can be heard more than 50 feet from the source.”

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AG Hill moves to block Marion County early voting sites

Marion County’s decision to open additional voting centers is being contested by Attorney General Curtis Hill, but the Marion County Election Board disputes his assertion that the agreement to offer more early voting sites is contrary to Indiana law or that the board lacked a unanimous vote.

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Marion County Jail beating lawsuit proceeds

A judge has refused to dismiss a federal lawsuit in which a man claims guards at the Marion County Jail stomped and beat him, leaving him with broken ribs, then refused to allow him to file a grievance.

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Judge blocks release of 3D-printed gun plans

A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order to stop the release of blueprints to make untraceable and undetectable 3D-printed plastic guns. Eight Democratic attorneys general sued Monday to block a settlement with the government that would have allowed blueprints to be published online.

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Hill joins amicus brief defending cross-shaped WWI memorial

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has signed on to a 28-state amicus brief urging the United States Supreme Court to overturn a circuit court decision that would require the destruction or significant alteration of a World War I monument, which was found to be a violation of the Establishment Clause.

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Justices side with Colorado baker on same-sex wedding cake

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday for a Colorado baker who wouldn’t make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in a limited decision that leaves for another day the larger issue of whether a business can invoke religious objections to refuse service to gay and lesbian people.

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State secret: DOC presses lethal injection confidentiality

A law slipped into the 2017 budget bill during the General Assembly’s final hours declared that information about drugs that the state would use to execute someone was confidential. The last-minute law was written into the bill even though a judge had ruled months earlier that the very same information was a matter of public record and had ordered the Department of Correction to provide it.

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