Indiana’s petition for a review of its 2016 abortion law is still pending at the Supreme Court of the United States after the justices relisted the Hoosier state’s writ of certiorari for this Friday’s conference. The state is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a preliminary injunction blocking the implementation of a law that limits when a woman may terminate her pregnancy and mandates how fetal remains should be handled.
In an effort to remove Indiana from a list of five states without hate crimes legislation, lawmakers have filed three separate bills so far in the Indiana General Assembly, but the latest measure does not specify the classes of individuals and groups who would be protected.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb remains opposed to efforts by state lawmakers to allow medical or recreational marijuana in the state, even as such uses are becoming legal in a growing number of other states.
An investigation into allegations that Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill drunkenly groped four women at a party last March cost taxpayers at least $26,300, according to records obtained through open records requests. The bulk of the expenses, $17,861, came from the office of Inspector General Lori Torres, which opened its inquiry after requests by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and legislative leadership.
Indiana Lawyer’s top story of 2018 began inside an Indianapolis bar in the cool early-morning hours of Thursday, March 15. Attorney General Curtis Hill had had a few drinks. A few too many, several witnesses would later claim.
The spray-painting of a swastika outside a suburban Indianapolis synagogue this summer was the final straw for Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who quickly called for Indiana to join the 45 states that have hate crime laws.
The Indiana Department of Child Services is requesting a 42 percent increase in its budget next year compared to the funding it was designated to receive this year in the previous budget cycle. The proposed budget from DCS would include $965 million from the state’s general fund per year for the next two fiscal years.
Allen County Magistrate Jennifer DeGroote has been appointed by Gov. Eric Holcomb to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Allen Superior Court. DeGroote will succeed Judge Stanley A. Levine, who will retire Dec. 31.
The Indiana Department of Correction has again lost a suit in which it argues to keep secret the drugs it would use in a lethal injection. The judge in the case extraordinarily outlined how the DOC, the governor’s office, and the Indiana General Assembly appeared to directly undermine her order that the department disclose the drugs it might use in a potential execution.
Special prosecutor Daniel Sigler said he believes the four women who accused Attorney General Curtis Hill of groping them, but he said he chose not to file criminal charges against Hill because believing the women would not be enough in a court of law.
The Indiana Department of Child Services is spending $22 million on raises for staff as part of an effort to improve the agency that’s seen rising caseloads and internal battles. The raises will take effect Wednesday for more than 3,600 employees, or about 87 percent of the agency’s staff.
While the firestorm over the Indiana Department of Child Services has died down, the Indiana General Assembly is preparing to begin its examination of the agency and possibly make recommendations for action during the 2019 legislative session. The Interim Study Committee on Courts and the Judiciary is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Room 431 of the Statehouse to review a host of issues related to DCS.
Attorneys interested in filling vacancies on the Monroe Circuit Court and Terre Haute City Court have just days remaining to make their interest known. Wednesday, Sept. 5 is the deadline to submit applications for Gov. Eric Holcomb’s appointments to both positions.
Republican Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is calling on the General Assembly to pass a hate crimes bill after someone spray-painted anti-Semitic graffiti at a suburban Indianapolis synagogue. Holcomb said Monday he’ll meet with lawmakers, legal experts, corporate leaders and “citizens of all stripes who are seeking to find consensus on this issue so that, once and for all, we can move forward as a state."
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has named Lake Superior Judge Elizabeth Tavitas as the next member of the Indiana Court of Appeals. Holcomb selected Tavitas from a pool of three finalists: Tavitas, St. Joseph Superior Judge Steven Hostetler and Fort Wayne attorney David C. Van Gilder.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s office pushed back today against Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill’s attempt to squash the appointment of a special prosecutor, saying his motion had “fatal flaws” and he was making a “dubious proposition.”
The collapse of an oil company linked to the Pence family in 2004 was widely publicized. Less known is that the state of Indiana — and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois — are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 of the company’s contaminated sites, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells.
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill plans to address calls for him to resign amid allegations that he inappropriately touched a state lawmaker and several other women.
Amid calls for Republican Attorney General Curtis Hill to resign amid groping allegations made by four women, including a lawmaker, at an Indianapolis bar, the lawmaker in question has come forward to share her side of the story. Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster, said Friday that Hill slid his hands down her back and grabbed her bare buttocks at a party on March 15.
Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma said Monday he was “disturbed” after finding out the state’s child welfare agency failed to take action after five different reviews conducted in recent years found problems at the agency. The revelation was included in a sixth report on the Department of Child Services, which was released in June by a consultant hired by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.