Damon R. Leichty, partner in the South Bend office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, has been nominated to serve as a judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, potentially filling the last empty seat in the federal judiciary in Indiana. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Leichty will fill the vacancy created when Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr., took senior status in January 2016.
The Marion County Election Board has agreed to open five additional satellite locations for early in-person voting starting with the 2018 general election, settling a lawsuit brought in 2017 by Common Cause Indiana and the NAACP. Senior judge Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana signed on Tuesday a consent decree offered by the plaintiffs and defendants.
A Fourth Amendment excessive force claim against an Indianapolis police officer will continue after a federal judge denied the officer’s motion for summary judgment on Tuesday. The SWAT officer is accused of assaulting a suspected drug dealer in his home after executing a no-knock warrant.
The estate of a woman who was confined to a hospital bed and harassed by her landlord won a major victory last week in federal court that provided some rare Indiana case law on housing discrimination and, according to a fair housing advocate, will impact Hoosiers for years to come.
A federal judge on Monday sentenced Steven Ganote, a key player in the massive American Senior Communities overbilling and and kickback scheme, to five years in prison and ordered him to pay $7 million in restitution. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt also doled out punishment to Joshua Burkhart, sentencing him to four months in prison and ordering him to pay $420,000 in restitution for his role in the scheme.
For the third consecutive year, an Indiana law that would have raised restrictions on abortion rights was blocked by a federal judge. Abortion rights supporters say they expect more such attempts in the future, while the continuity of those federal rights has suddenly become an open question.
Daniel Benson, the former chief operating officer of American Senior Communities, was sentenced Friday to nearly five years in federal prison for his role in a massive kickback scheme at Indiana’s largest chain of nursing homes. Indiana Southern District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt sentenced Benson to a 57-month sentence as part of a plea agreement.
A suburban Indianapolis swim coach is facing federal charges alleging he shot video of himself having sex with one of his athletes. Prosecutors said Thursday that 29-year-old John C. Goelz has been charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography.
Convicted fraudster and former Indianapolis attorney William Conour has agreed to dismiss a third appeal of his 10-year federal prison sentence stemming from a 2012 wire fraud conviction for stealing more than $6 million from his personal-injury and wrongful-death clients.
Speaking at a press conference about Thursday’s federal court order stopping another abortion law passed by the Indiana Legislature, ACLU of Indiana legal director Ken Falk noted this is not the first time the Statehouse has passed a bill attempting to limit abortions.
James Burkhart's hopes for a light sentence were dashed Friday afternoon when a federal judge handed down a 9-1/2-year sentence for his role in leading a massive kickback scheme as CEO of Indiana’s largest chain of nursing homes.
Following a familiar pattern of recent years, a federal judge Thursday halted an abortion restriction passed by the Indiana General Assembly just days before the law was to take effect. Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry on Thursday in essence said he and others tried to warn the state.
After receiving approval Thursday from the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the pair of nominees to Indiana’s two district courts are now advancing to the floor of Senate, but when they will be called for a confirmation vote is uncertain.
A federal judge on Thursday blocked an Indiana abortion law that was set to take effect July 1 that would have required the reporting of complications arising from abortions to the state.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has begun the search for the next Indiana Southern District Bankruptcy Court judge as a current judge prepares to retire.Judge Basil J. Lorch III will soon vacate his position at the Southern District Bankruptcy Court after announcing his retirement in 2016.
The nominees for the Northern and Southern Indiana district courts will have to wait at least another week before they receive a vote from the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. The committee unanimously agreed Thursday to hold over a host of nominees to the federal bench, including Holly Brady and James Patrick Hanlon, nominees for the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts, respectively.
Judicial leaders reiterated the urgent need for additional judgeships in the Southern District of Indiana and elsewhere before a House subcommittee Thursday. The Southern District is struggling under the weight of increasing caseloads and saw a 30 percent increase in cases in 2017.
A clerical revision was made to amended local rules for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana that will take effect July 1.
A federal jury Friday awarded $15 million in damages on behalf of a woman who claimed a Carmel imaging center failed to identify a tumor that went untreated and undetected for nearly 18 months, severely reducing her chances of surviving cancer.
A prison doctor must face a lawsuit from an inmate who claims the physician didn’t follow a surgeon’s orders for pain medication and physical therapy after the inmate’s back surgery. The judge in the case also said he would solicit counsel to represent the inmate going forward.