Indiana woman gets 4 years for fatal school bus stop crash
An Indiana woman who plowed her pickup truck into four children, killing three of them, while they crossed a highway to board a school bus was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison.
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Vaping crisis could be impetus for Legislature to raise smoking age to 21
Time and again, legislation in Indiana to raise the age to possess or purchase tobacco to 21 has failed. But that could be about to change.
Appeals court: Specialized driving privileges may not exceed 2½ years
Indiana trial courts may not grant specialized driving privileges to motorists whose licenses have been suspended without also limiting those privileges to no more than two-and-a-half years, an appellate panel ruled Thursday.
Split COA: Prosecutor can file for paternity at putative father’s request
A divided panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed the dismissal of an alleged father’s time-barred petition seeking to establish paternity of a child. The majority held a prosecutor is authorized to pursue such a request outside the general two-year statute of limitations. A dissenting judge, however, warned the holding “makes a mockery” of the two-year statute of limitations in paternity cases.
Holcomb backs ban on drivers using handheld phones
Indiana’s governor on Tuesday threw his support behind a statewide ban on drivers using handheld cellphones as well as a plan to raise the minimum age for smoking and vaping to 21. Gov. Eric Holcomb made the proposals central to his 2020 legislative agenda.
‘Children are children’: Coalition forms after legislative attempt to lower waiver age
The Children’s Policy and Law Initiative of Indiana and more than 20 nonprofits and community groups have joined together to form the Indiana Coalition for Youth Justice, which advocates for reform in the juvenile justice system so that it offers treatment, programs and interventions that are age-appropriate, fairly applied and result in the best possible outcomes for Indiana children and public safety.
Banta: I bought the law (and the law won?): Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc.
The primary reason for the cost of access to legal texts is the ability of the text owners to prohibit unlicensed copying of those works through copyright enforcement. It is one thing when the owner is a private entity, but how do you feel about this prohibition when the owner is a state government?
Panel recommends boosting Indiana’s cigarette age to 21
An Indiana legislative panel is recommending that Indiana’s legal age for buying cigarettes be raised from 18 to 21.
Marion County files first charge of drug dealing resulting in death
For the first time in Marion County, a suspected drug dealer has been charged under a new law criminalizing dealing that leads to a drug user’s death.
Expensive renovations lead to West Virginia impeachment, political feud
A taste for blue suede sofas, inlaid wooden floor maps and glass countertops has led to the retirement of two West Virginia Supreme Court justices and the impeachment of three others. It also has created a political firestorm, as Democrats accuse the Republican-led Legislature of using the impeachments to try to take control of the court, a separate branch of government.
State government confronts sexual harassment
With the rise of the #MeToo movement, organizations of all sizes, including state governments, have been forced to take a long look at themselves. After the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation this year to expand training and write a sexual harassment prevention policy for the legislature for the first time, the other two branches of state government are taking action.
Indiana Senate GOP leader retiring from Legislature
The Republican leader of the Indiana Senate said Tuesday that he will step down from the Legislature later this year, making him the third high-profile GOP lawmaker to announce their departure from the chamber over the last year.