Articles

Death penalty ‘secrecy statute’ now in hands of justices

It’s now year six of an ongoing battle between the Indiana Department of Correction and a Washington, D.C., lawyer who wants to know the drugs used in Indiana’s lethal injection cocktail and who supplies them. In those six years, a public records request, a lawsuit and a legislative change have propelled the dispute to the Indiana Supreme Court, which now has a consequential ruling in its hands.

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Rush on race, equity: ‘We can and must do better’

Citing failures of courts and justice systems to address racial inequities, Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush on Friday issued a statement promising change as protests over the death of George Floyd continued in streets in the Hoosier state and across the nation.

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Justices strip award of attorney fees in Utica billboard dispute

The Indiana Supreme Court on Friday threw out an award of more than $237,000 in attorney fees in a lawsuit over seven billboards outside Utica, Indiana. Justices found the Clark Circuit Court lacked a basis for awarding fees to the parties who sued a regional development entity that sought to restrict billboards along State Road 265 just north of Louisville.

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Suspect who claims self-defense in judges’ shooting jailed without bond on minor violation

The man accused of shooting two judges during an Indianapolis altercation more than a year ago — and whose attorneys unsuccessfully pressed for the release of surveillance video of the incident they say backs up his self-defense claim — is back behind bars, held without bond after a minor pretrial release violation. The arrest on a warrant appears to conflict with an Indiana Supreme Court order for trial courts to issue arrest warrants only in emergency cases due to concern about the spread of COVID-19 behind bars.

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Indiana Supreme Court providing certainty in uncertain times

The July bar exam is one example of the Supreme Court’s nimbleness as it moves in a new direction to help recent law school graduates and new lawyers overcome the stress and hardship created by the pandemic. Within the span of roughly two months, the justices moved the May admission ceremony online so those who passed the February bar could begin their legal careers as soon as possible and established the graduate legal intern program to give 2020 graduates the option of getting a limited license.

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Stafford: Hill touts his record, so let’s look at his convictions

Say what you will about Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill, he is a man of convictions. But for purposes of this earned polemic, let’s set aside the wrongful convictions that are still being overturned from Hill’s years as Elkhart County prosecutor. Instead, let’s focus on his time as AG and explore Hill’s personal and political convictions.

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