Home » Authors » Michael W. Hoskins

Michael W. Hoskins

Articles

Courts can review public school financing

Hoosier courts have the authority to review the state’s school financing formula to determine whether Indiana is meeting a constitutional requirement to provide a quality public education for all students, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled May 2.A 2-1 ruling from the COA revives the public education financing case of Joseph Bonner, et al. v. Mitch Daniels, et al., No. 49A02-0702-CV-188, which presents an issue of first impression. Nine public school students and their families from eight different school systems throughout the…

Read More

Judge penalizes no-show juror

A Lake County criminal court judge took a former juror to task Tuesday for skipping jury duty during a murder trial this spring.Superior Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. found a 20-year-old Cedar Lake resident in contempt of court and sentenced him to three hours in the county jail, as well as ordering him to carry a 24-inch by 24-inch sign saying “I failed to appear for jury duty” from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Monday outside the Crown Point courthouse.That will be a warning…

Read More

Justices: MySpace use not harassment

A teenager’s use of the social networking site MySpace.com didn’t rise to the level of harassment because her expletive-laden postings criticizing her principal about school policy weren’t available to everyone online, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled.In a unanimous ruling late Tuesday afternoon, the state’s five justices agreed to reverse a lower court’s decision in A.B. v. State of Indiana, No. 67S01-0709-JV-373.While the case presented justices with a chance to explore free speech rights as they pertain to online activity in…

Read More

Court: Rehabilitation evaluation a must

The Indiana Supreme Court says that before any juvenile can be placed on the state's sex offender registry, a trial court must first evaluate whether that minor has been rehabilitated to determine if there's clear and convincing evidence he or she might re-offend.

Read More

Judge dismisses prisoner suit

A federal judge in Fort Wayne has dismissed a pro se complaint against a local sheriff and jail officials because it doesn’t adequately state a claim to recover for alleged sexual harassment during a weapons strip search.U.S. District Judge Philip Simon ruled in Nathan W. Romine v. Nick Yoder, et al., No. 1:08-CV-036 PS, which involved a suit from an Adams County Law Enforcement Center inmate. Romine said he was sexually harassed at the jail during a strip search for…

Read More

Judge crosses out cell tower dispute

A federal suit is going back to Jeffersonville to decide whether a wireless carrier can put up a cell tower disguised as a Baptist church cross.U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker Thursday remanded the case Sprint Spectrum v. City of Jeffersonville Board of Zoning Appeals, No. 4:05-cv-00154-SEB-WGH, issuing a final judgment and denying cross-motions for summary judgment from both parties. The nearly three-year-old suit was filed in the Southern District of Indiana New Albany Division.Sprint wanted to build a “stealth facility”…

Read More

Courts leave election law questions unanswered

In the days leading up to an Election Day where thousands of Hoosier voters had already cast ballots before polls even opened, Indiana's appellate judges issued a pair of election law rulings that leave more questions than answers and will likely lead to further review.

Read More

New chief defender chosen

Indianapolis defense attorney Robert J. Hill Jr. is poised to be the next top public defender in the state’s largest county.The Marion County Public Defender Agency’s governing board voted March 12 for him to lead the agency after David E. Cook resigns for private practice in mid-April. Cook notified the nine-member board of his decision in December to leave the office after 13 years at the helm, setting in motion a search for his successor.To help facilitate the transition, Cook agreed today to…

Read More

Firefighters allege reverse discrimination

A reverse discrimination suit filed Tuesday in federal court against the Indianapolis Fire Department is the second bias claim made against the city in a year.The newest suit in the Southern District names 20 white firefighters who allege they were passed over for promotions to lieutenant and captain in favor of less-qualified black candidates. The case is Glen Scott, et al. v. City of Indianapolis, et al.Brought by 19 men and a woman, the suit names the city and Indianapolis Fire…

Read More

Moving forward on merit selection: Judiciary, bar association support statewide change

An effort that began more than 50 years ago is being resurrected and could eventually reshape how judges are selected throughout Indiana. Stars are aligning for a multi-faceted thrust toward merit selection and retention for all trial judges statewide, an endeavor that’s been brewing behind the scenes for years but is now gaining more steam from the state’s judiciary and largest bar associations. While no guarantee exists that lawmakers would even consider such a change, key players supporting the concept in…

Read More

Indy juvenile facility gets new leader

The Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility has its third new leader within a year.Frances Osburn has been promoted to superintendent, a role she’s had temporarily since previous superintendent Robert Rivenburg left in June. He’d been hired in August 2007 and left to pursue an opening with the Texas prison system. Osburn started July 10.She has been with the state DOC since 1985, beginning her career as a correctional officer and most recently serving as assistant superintendent at the facility.Located at 2596 Girls…

Read More

BREAKING: Lawrence confirmed

U.S. Magistrate Judge William T. Lawrence in Indianapolis has been confirmed as the newest federal judge on the Southern District of Indiana.Just about 4 p.m., the U.S. Senate took a break from discussion on wiretapping to move on to judicial nominations. They held a roll call vote at 4:35 p.m. They voted 97-0 at 5 p.m. to confirm Magistrate Lawrence to the judgeship, meaning he’ll be the Southern District’s first ever magistrate to be elevated to the constitutionally established Article III…

Read More

U.S. allowed to join Indy case arguments

The U.S. Supreme Court will allow the federal government to have a voice in arguments of an Indiana case later this month, testing the competency standards for pro se litigants in criminal cases.On March 14, justices of the nation’s highest court granted a motion from the U.S. Solicitor General to participate in arguments as amicus curiae in Indiana v. Ahmad Edwards, 07-208, set for 10 a.m. March 26.At issue is what the Sixth Amendment dictates when determining whether someone found competent…

Read More

Court mulls ‘vicarious exhaustion’ in jail suit

A court ruling issued Monday by a federal judge in Indianapolis touches on a legal nuance that’s yet to be addressed by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago and is also a relatively new argument for Indiana.In the jail-condition prisoner suit of Trevor Richardson v. Monroe County Sheriff, et al., No. 1:08-cv-0174 U.S., Judge Richard Young of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, denied a motion from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to dismiss the suit and…

Read More

Federal judge: No new jury trial, judgment

A federal judge in Fort Wayne won’t give a former train conductor a new trial relating to injuries he sustained during work.The decision from U.S. District Judge William C. Lee in the Northern District came Thursday in Terry Lee Wilcox v. CSX Transportation. The case involved claims by the 30-year employee that he couldn’t work following injuries he developed over time that resulted in more specific injuries in 2002 and 2004. After a five-day trial in October, the jury decided in…

Read More

COA rules on stipulation requirement

Prosecutors must be allowed to present their cases as they see fit and not be forced into agreements, the Indiana Court of Appeals confirmed today.In State of Indiana v. Harold Lewis, No. 72A05-0610-CR-564, the three-judge panel unanimously reversed and remanded the case to Scott Superior Judge Nicholas South. The trial judge had determined in 2006 to grant the defendant’s motion prohibiting prosecutors from mentioning the death of the man who Lewis had shot. He was being tried on a felony charge of…

Read More

7th Circuit won’t rehear in vitro case

The full 7th Circuit Court of Appeals won't rehear a case of first impression involving an Indiana woman's claim
that she was wrongfully fired for taking time off for in vitro fertilization, and attorneys haven't decided whether to
seek further review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Read More

Ball State shooting trial starts Tuesday

An excessive force and wrongful death trial starts in federal court Tuesday involving a Ball State police officer’s shooting of a college student about four years ago.Jury selection begins Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis in McKinney v. Duplain. The 21-year-old Michael McKinney was shot four times by campus officer Robert Duplain, who was responding to a report of a stranger pounding on the door of a house early on Nov. 8, 2003. Tests later showed that McKinney had a…

Read More