A juvenile justice summit by the Indiana State Bar Association in August has led to the introduction of a bill that would change how students are treated in schools and hopefully decrease the number of school suspensions while increasing statewide graduation rates.
In a one-two punch, a pair of lawsuits filed a week apart in December hit the Indiana Department of Child Services square
in the gut over how the agency planned to reduce payment rates for foster and adoptive parents and juvenile service providers.
Last spring, after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied USA Funds' petition for rehearing en banc in an important student loan bankruptcy case, my colleagues Joni Anderson and Julie Ragsdale recommended that USA Funds file a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States.
Indiana's legal community got a mixed bag of gifts on Christmas Eve, as one former Hoosier attorney received Senate confirmation for an ambassadorship, a federal prosecutor in Hammond learned he might be promoted, and a Bloomington law professor got what amounts to a lump of coal as senators sent her nearly yearold nomination back to the president for reconsideration.
An attorney and spokesman for the Marion County Prosecutor's Office was arrested March 27 for drunk driving.
In the first week after the Indiana General Assembly returned, lawmakers addressed several bills during two key committee meetings particularly relevant to the state's legal community.
A legislative committee this week unanimously approved a bill that would cap the fines a court could assess for traffic violations.
Lawmakers rejected a southern Indiana county's request this week for a new judge to run a family court, even though it proposes paying for it locally rather than with state money.
Marion County Republican prosecutor candidate Mark Massa has called on Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, also a Republican, to step down in the wake of a five-month-long Indianapolis Business Journal investigation.
As the Indiana Supreme Court justices considered the constitutionality of the state's voter ID law this week, one jurist wondered how much the legislative process might factor into the court's analysis of whether a statute is constitutional.
The Indiana General Assembly tried to end the session more than a week before the constitutional March 14 deadline, but impasses on school funding and unemployment insurance caused the legislators to miss their March 4 self-imposed deadline.
Although the deadline has passed to introduce new legislation, St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak has called on legislators to find current bills that will allow amendments to statute in response to two separate car accidents involving police officers.
The 2010 session of the Indiana General Assembly wrapped up Thursday with Gov. Mitch Daniels signing the remaining legislation pending before him.
Indiana's Attorney General opposes a proposed settlement between the city of East Chicago and a developer regarding riverboat casino revenues because it would grant additional money to that developer at a time when the state is suing to open up the financial books.
Gov. Mitch Daniels didn't have to look far to fill a vacancy for general counsel.
During the final week of committee hearings before the Indiana General Assembly reaches its midpoint, the legal community watched as many bills died in their current form for lack of a hearing while others remained in play and moved to the full House or Senate for a potential vote.
The Senate Judiciary Committee spent most of its time this week discussing the definition of marriage in Indiana and whether
a constitutional amendment should be sent to voters to make it tougher for courts and legislators to rewrite how they
handle both gay marriage and civil unions.
If snow doesn't get in the way, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee may discuss on Thursday morning three Indiana federal judicial nominees and the long-delayed nomination of a Bloomington law professor for the Department of Justice.
Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi last year intervened in a major drug case to offer a reduced sentence over objections from both law enforcement officers and his own deputy prosecutors.
If he had it to do over again, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said he wouldn't get involved in a real estate deal with a local criminal defense attorney.