Restoring humanity and dignity to those wrongly convicted
Legislation in the Indiana General Assembly Bill would compensate people who have been exonerated after a wrongful conviction, but only if they don’t sue the state.
Indiana General Assembly
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Indiana Senate backs tougher law on passing stopped buses
Indiana drivers could face tougher penalties for passing stopped school buses under a bill advancing in the Legislature.
Indiana Senate committee moves bias crimes bill forward
After more than three hours of testimony and discussion on Monday morning, the Senate Public Policy Committee voted to send a bias crimes bill to the full Senate for consideration. Senate Bill 12 would give judges the ability to consider whether a crime was committed out of hate or bias toward specific groups of individuals as an aggravating circumstance at sentencing.
Indiana Senate panel backs hate crimes bill
A proposed Indiana hate crimes law has been endorsed by a state legislative committee. The Senate Public Policy Committee voted 9-1 on Monday to advance the bill to the full Senate after hearing nearly three hours of public testimony from opponents and supporters of the legislation.
Indiana Senate panel hearing state hate crimes bill
Opponents and supporters of a proposed Indiana hate crimes law are arguing their positions before state legislators. A state Senate committee opened a hearing Monday morning on a bill that would create a law specifically against crimes fueled by biases regarding traits such as race, religion and sexual orientation.
Report: Indiana lawmaker may have violated lobbying laws
A former Indiana lawmaker’s contract with the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs may have violated state lobbying laws, according to a newspaper investigation. Allen Paul received more than $150,000 from July 2015 to December 2018 after signing a lobbying contract with the department nine months after the former Republican senator retired in 2014.
Impeachment investigation sought of Indiana attorney general
An Indiana legislator wants an investigation into the possible impeachment of state Attorney General Curtis Hill over allegations he drunkenly groped a female lawmaker and three female legislative staffers at a bar. Democratic Rep. Ed DeLaney of Indianapolis said he submitted the request Thursday asking that the House Judiciary Committee investigate Hill’s conduct and whether he should remain in office.
Alcohol bills move to full House for consideration after changes
State lawmakers on Wednesday made changes to two major bills addressing alcohol issues before moving both pieces of legislation to the full House for consideration.
House approves bill to lift light-rail ban in central Indiana
A bill that would end the prohibition on light-rail construction in Marion and six other central Indiana counties passed the Indiana House on Tuesday.
Bill sought by child sex abuse survivors rerouted for study
Individuals who were sexually abused as children will have to keep waiting for justice, now that a bill that could potentially give them more time to sue their abusers has been routed for further study.
No action coming on Indiana attorney general removal bill
Legislative Republicans are not going to take any action on a proposal that aims to make it easier to remove some state officeholders from their positions, which was filed by an Indiana legislator who says she was groped by Attorney General Curtis Hill.
Lake Michigan public access bill advances; SCOTUS to confer on appeal
A bill that defines the shore of Lake Michigan as belonging to the public and spells out public recreational uses of the shoreline has moved to the full Indiana Senate. Meanwhile, a petition seeking to privatize Indiana’s Great Lakes beaches will be before justices of the Supreme Court of the United States this week.
Gun training for teachers among Indiana GOP firearms bills
Indiana school districts would be able to seek state money to provide gun training for teachers under a bill endorsed by a legislative committee.
Election panel won’t probe Bosma’s use of campaign funds
A state election panel won’t investigate Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma’s use of campaign funds to collect information on a woman who says she performed oral sex on the married Republican lawmaker when she was a legislative intern in 1992.
Bill: Public servants who steal would repay from pensions
The House Committee on Courts and Criminal Code on Wednesday unanimously stripped a proposed bill of language that would have required Indiana public officials to serve prison time for theft of taxpayer dollars. In its place, the committee added a provision to recoup any monetary losses from the pension funds of officials convicted of theft.
State, national groups support Indiana public defense reform
Leaders of state and national criminal justice organizations are declaring their support for the Indiana Public Defender Commission’s reform initiative, which the commission is presenting to the Indiana General Assembly this year in an effort to secure additional funds to expand and improve indigent defense services statewide.
Indiana GOP seeks abortion ban blocked in 7 other states
Indiana Republicans eager for a rare legal victory in their efforts to restrict abortion rights are seeking to outlaw a second-trimester procedure, hopeful an increasingly conservative U.S. Supreme Court will back a ban that courts have blocked in seven other states.
Indiana Senate panel backs easier ballot access for parties
Smaller political parties would face lower requirements to get their candidates on Indiana's ballot under a bill backed by a legislative panel.
The woe of Roe: 46 years later, abortion debate still boils
To mark the 46th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, two groups rallied at the Indiana Statehouse Jan. 22, and showed that of the divisions among Americans, the gulf over abortion rights remains among the widest.
Indiana appeals 18-hour ultrasound injunction to U.S. Supreme Court
Indiana is again appealing to the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn a preliminary injunction blocking a state abortion law, this one requiring women to get an ultrasound at least 18 hours before the procedure. The provision was included in House Enrolled Act 1337, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Mike Pence in 2016.