‘Ordered freedom’: AG Rokita sets agenda focused on ‘liberty’
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita recently sat down with Indiana Lawyer to answer questions about his first 100 days in office and his agenda for the next four years.
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Fired Cathedral teacher’s suit against archdiocese over same-sex marriage dismissed
In a one-page order, Marion Superior Special Judge Lance Hamner did what a previous special judge and the Indiana Supreme Court had not done – dismiss the wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a gay teacher against the archdiocese of Indianapolis.
Facebook board upholds Trump ban, just not an indefinite one
Former President Donald Trump won’t return to Facebook — at least not yet. Four months after Facebook suspended Trump’s accounts for inciting violence that led to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the company’s quasi-independent oversight board upheld the bans but told Facebook to specify how long they would last.
Wary Supreme Court weighs student’s Snapchat profanity case
A wary Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed whether public schools can discipline students for things they say off campus, worrying about overly restricting speech on the one hand and leaving educators powerless to deal with bullying on the other.
Student’s Snapchat profanity leads to high court speech case
Fourteen-year-old Brandi Levy was having that kind of day where she just wanted to scream. So she did, in a profanity-laced posting on Snapchat that has, improbably, ended up before the Supreme Court in the most significant case on student speech in more than 50 years.
Sikh community calls for gun reforms after FedEx shooting
Members of Indianapolis’ tight-knit Sikh community joined with city officials to call for gun reforms Saturday as they mourned the deaths of four Sikhs who were among the eight people killed in a mass shooting at a FedEx warehouse.
SCOTUS to consider civil forfeiture case of truck seized over 5 forgotten bullets
Gerardo Serrano ticked off the border crossing agents by taking some photos on his phone. So they took his pickup truck and held onto it for more than two years. Now the U.S. Supreme Court might take up the case.
Web Exclusive: NCAA, broadcaster in contract dispute over COVID cancelation of March Madness 2020
After the fanfare of the 2021 NCAA March Madness Tournament, the Indianapolis-based college athletics organization is heading back to the court — this time, an actual courtroom in the Circle City — in a contract dispute over a radio broadcast contract canceled during the pandemic.
High court halts Calif. virus rules limiting home worship
The U.S. Supreme Court is telling California that it can’t enforce coronavirus-related restrictions that have limited home-based religious worship including Bible studies and prayer meetings.
Lawmakers adopt penalties for failing to protect monuments
The Indiana Legislature passed a bill Thursday that allows the state to withhold funding to cities that fail to protect public monuments and memorials from vandalism, part of an attempt by Republican lawmakers to deter protests that have elevated since the death of George Floyd.
Pence inks two-book deal, launches political advocacy group
Former Vice President Mike Pence has a book deal. His autobiography, currently untitled, is scheduled to come out in 2023. In addition, the former Indiana governor on Wednesday launched an advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, which will promote the Trump administration’s record and could serve as a springboard for a Pence presidential run in 2024.
Woman pleads guilty to striking Indianapolis protesters
An Indianapolis woman has pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness for driving her minivan into several people protesting the death of George Floyd last year.
Indiana Senate approves ‘abortion reversal’ requirement
Indiana’s Republican-dominated Legislature on Tuesday voted to advance a bill that tightens state abortion laws despite objections that it would force doctors to provide dubious information to their patients.
High court nixes Alex Jones’ appeal in Newtown shooting case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was fighting a Connecticut court sanction in a defamation lawsuit brought by relatives of some of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
SCOTUS dismisses case over Trump and Twitter critics
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a case over former President Donald Trump’s efforts to block critics from his personal Twitter account. The court said there was nothing left to the case after Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter and ended his presidential term in January.
Justices uphold FCC’s easing of local media ownership limits
The Supreme Court of the United States on Thursday unanimously upheld federal regulators’ decision to ease ownership limits on local media, rejecting a claim that the change would hurt minority and female ownership.
Court lets woman’s defamation suit vs. Trump proceed again
Former President Donald Trump could face questioning under oath about a former reality TV show contestant’s sexual assault allegations against him after a ruling from New York’s highest court Tuesday.
Dominion Voting sues Fox for $1.6B over 2020 election claims
Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort to boost faltering ratings that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election.
Lawmakers press Big Tech CEOs on speech responsibility
The CEOs of tech giants Facebook, Twitter and Google faced a grilling Thursday in Congress as lawmakers tried to draw them into acknowledging their companies’ roles in fueling the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and rising COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.
Druidism must be recognized in Department of Correction, judge rules
Druidism could soon become a formally recognized religion within the Indiana Department of Correction after a federal judge granted injunctive relief to a prisoner who claimed his religious rights were violated by the lack of communal Druid services in the DOC.