Rehab, not jail, shows promise in lowering recidivism
Advocates for alternative programs are asking the Indiana Legislature for funding.
Indiana Department of Correction
Articles
Criminal Code bill gets Senate hearing
Concerns over sentencing provisions and pleas for adequate funding dominated the Senate hearing on legislation overhauling the state’s criminal code.
Evidence shows stabbing by inmate wasn’t in self defense
A Bartholomew County jail inmate had his conviction and sentence for Class B felony aggravated battery upheld Friday by the Indiana Court of Appeals. The judges ruled the evidence disputes his claim that a fight he got into with a fellow inmate was in self defense.
Judges deny prisoner’s request to appeal without paying fees
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a man’s argument that he and other prisoners do not need to pay appellate filing and docketing fees, and so a District Court’s certification of appeal is irrelevant.
Long expects Criminal Code revision will get Senate approval
Indiana’s first major rewrite of the state’s Criminal Code in more than 30 years is now in the hands of the Senate where the Senate leader believes it will ultimately be approved.
Proposed changes would make convicted felons serve at least 75 percent of sentence
The worst-of-the-worst criminal offenders will be facing more time while low-level offenders will be given intensive probation under the new sentencing provisions included in the rewrite of the Indiana Criminal Code.
District judge incorrectly dismissed prisoner’s suit for length and unintelligibility
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered U.S. Judge William T. Lawrence to take another look at a federal prisoner’s Bivens lawsuit against prison staff and other unnamed defendants, finding that the lawsuit is actually written clearly and not as long as the judge believed when dismissing it.
7th Circuit reverses dismissal of prisoner’s suit
A lawsuit filed by a prisoner at the Pendleton Correctional Facility against two prison doctors and a nurse after he learned he had prostate cancer is allowed to continue after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of his suit.
Senator files bill restricting educational credit time for sex offenders
Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, announced Wednesday that he has introduced legislation to revise the state’s education credit law for sex offenders. He said eight months ago that he would seek to change the law after a sex offender was released early after earning this type of credit.
Ruling: DOC ‘indifferent’ to mentally ill inmates
The opinion from the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Indiana fits the national trend against isolation policy for these inmates.
Judge: DOC treatment of mentally ill unconstitutional
A lack of basic treatment for mentally ill Indiana Department of Correction inmates held in isolation violates the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Court of Appeals reverses and remands inmate’s request for kosher meals
A Pendleton Correctional Facility inmate will not be able to collect monetary damages against employees of the Indiana Department of Correction, but his request for kosher meals will get a second review.
Inmate loses appeal of visitation restrictions by DOC
An inmate at the Pendleton Correctional Facility can have his visitation restricted to non-contact visits due to committing battery with a deadly weapon and violating disciplinary procedures, the Court of Appeals concluded.
Sex offender registry listings subject of court appeals
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals says DOC must fix errors; The Indiana Court of Appeals recently heard an ex post facto claim.
7th Circuit to DOC: Sex offender registry error safeguards insufficient
Indiana’s Sex and Violent Offender Registry provides insufficient means for those whose information is incorrect to challenge the information, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
Inmate’s public records request denied
An inmate at the Pendleton Correctional Facility was unable to identify with reasonable particularity the records he sought from the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded Wednesday. The case also allowed the judges for the first time to address “reasonable particularity” under the Access to Public Records Act.
Crawford holding doesn’t apply to probation revocation hearings
The Indiana Supreme Court rejected a man’s argument Thursday that he should be afforded the same right of confrontation in his probation revocation hearing as is outlined in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004).
Justices: Good-time-credit amendment not retroactive
The Indiana Supreme Court interpreted a 2010 amendment on credit time earned during placement in community corrections to only apply to those placed on home detention on or after its July 1, 2010, effective date.
Justices uphold sentence for kidnapping jail officer
In a four-page per curiam decision, the Indiana Supreme Court reinstated the trial court’s 47-year sentence of Roger Bushhorn, who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his escape, kidnapping and assault of jail officials.
Supreme Court grants more time to e-file some abstracts of judgment
Courts will have until the end of this year to file abstracts of judgment of felony convictions for people not sentenced to the Department of Correction, according to an order issued June 28 by the Indiana Supreme Court.