Justices block Alabama court order in lesbian adoption case
The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with a lesbian mother who wants to see her adopted children, blocking an Alabama court's order that declared the adoption invalid.
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High court rejects LA appeal over $5.7M jury award to felon
The justices on Monday let stand a lower court ruling that upheld the award to Robert Contreras, who was left paralyzed after police shot him multiple times when he fled the scene of a drive-by shooting in 2005.
Justices: Kentucky death sentence wrongly overturned
Justices ruled Monday that a federal appeals court was wrong to overturn Roger Wheeler’s sentence based on the exclusion of a juror who expressed reservations about the death penalty.
Banned live Nativity goes on with mannequins
School officials say a federal judge’s injunction only applied to a live scene and that they complied with the order.
Southern Indiana county OKs riverboat revenue settlement
The settlement calls for Switzerland County officials to deliver to Jefferson County within 10 days about $50,000 in economic development money they're currently holding.
Counties in central Indiana address jail overcrowding
Three central Indiana counties have been working over the past five years to address jail overcrowding by building or upgrading facilities.
More proceedings necessary in mortgage foreclosure action
Because there are genuine issues of material fact as to the fair market value of a property at the time of sale and the true amount of indebtedness on a promissory note, a trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor a bank on its foreclosure action, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
Majority: Sex offender registration not ex post facto law
The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the requirement that man convicted of a sex crime in Washington must also register as a sex offender in Indiana, finding the requirement is not an ex post facto punishment under the Indiana Constitution. But one judge disagreed, and would reverse his registration requirement.
Anderson latest city to pass local gay rights ordinance
Officials in another Indiana city have approved banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity ahead of an expected debate in the state Legislature over whether to pass a statewide law that supersedes any local ordinance.
Opinions Dec. 11, 2015
Indiana Court of Appeals
Wayne Patton v. Jessica Patton
17A04-1503-DR-137
Domestic relation. Affirms denial of father’s motion for modification of visitation, finding the trial court struck a balance that addresses the concerns of all, while still providing father with opportunities for more rewarding parenting time with W.P. immediately and in the future. Reverses portion denying his modification of child support, finding the emancipation of daughter Ja. P. was a substantial and continuing change to justify modification. Remands for modification of support obligation to become $136.42 per week.
Speeding ticket tossed because of invalid Carmel ordinance
“Carmel’s wholesale adoption of chapters of Indiana Code resulted in its ordinance being nothing more than a ‘duplicate’ of already existing State law,” Court of Appeals Judge Melissa May wrote.
Daughter’s emancipation leads to reduction in child support
A trial court should have reduced a father’s child support obligation to his three children because his daughter’s emancipation constitutes a substantial and continuing change, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Friday. The trial court denied the father’s motion because the amount of child support offered differed by less than 20 percent of the amount dictated by the Indiana Child Support Guidelines.
Conour appeals to 7th Circuit to defend self, remove judge
Ex-attorney William Conour claims in a jailhouse motion he filed Thursday that the judge who sentenced him to 10 years in prison for wire fraud appears to be biased in favor of prosecutors and must be removed for preventing him from representing himself.
Slavery labels sought for US goods as SEC reporting law mulled
“This item may be the product of slave labor.” Those jarring words could end up on candy bar wrappers, packages of frozen shrimp and even cans of cat food if some California lawyers get their way.
Family suing Marion County Sheriff over inmate’s suicide
The family of an Indianapolis man who apparently hanged himself in a Marion County Jail cell is seeking damages in a federal lawsuit against the sheriff's department.
Suit challenges constitutionality of RFRA fix, local gay rights laws
The “RFRA fix” passed in April to quell discrimination fears about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is now being challenged as unconstitutional by two organizations that were the most vocal proponents of the original legislation.
Former Fogle associate gets 27 years for producing child pornography
A federal judge has sentenced the former director of a charitable foundation started by ex-Subway pitchman Jared Fogle to 27 years in prison for producing child pornography that played a role in Fogle's criminal case.
Court divided over drug sentence
The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld a man’s convictions for making and delivering methamphetamine, but the judges did not agree that the 32-year sentence imposed by the trial court was appropriate.
Lawyer loses fee appeal against defunct Stewart & Irwin
A lawyer who claimed his former law firm and its shareholders wrongly withheld fees he was contractually owed lost his appeal of a judgment in the firm's favor Thursday.
Woman sentenced to 215 years for crash deaths loses PCR appeal
A woman who drove the wrong way on State Road 67 near Martinsville and collided with a minivan killing a man and six children in 2000 lost her post-conviction relief appeal Thursday.