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A new annual event has been created by the Historical Society of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana to focus on past and present legal issues, part of the group's shift from project-focused events to membership focused efforts.
The Supreme Court of the United States has found that a criminal defendant who’s been declared competent to stand trial does not necessarily have the right to represent himself.About 10 minutes into its public sitting that started at 10 a.m., the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 7-2 ruling in Indiana v. Edwards, No. 07-208. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the opinion, with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissenting. Opinions are typically posted on the high court’s Web site within an hour of…
An Indiana high school junior who was prevented from trying out for her school’s baseball team because she is female will now be allowed to participate in tryouts. Heather Bauduin, a baseball player who relocated to Wabash, Ind., from California, was not allowed under an Indiana High School Athletic Association rule to try out for Wabash High School’s baseball team. Public Justice, a public interest law firm in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia firm Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin, represented Bauduin and…
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court grant of summary judgment because there is a genuine issue of fact as to why a firefighter was demoted. In Jeffrey Kochis v. City of Hammond, Indiana, et al., No. 45A03-0709-CV-445, Kochis appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Hammond in his complaint that he had been demoted even though no charges had been filed against him and that he didn’t receive due process. Kochis had been a firefighter with the…
The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld a $1.25 million jury verdict and in doing so ruled on three issues of first impression
that will likely impact future medical malpractice suits.
A federal judge in Indianapolis has ordered a new trial for Cinergy Corp because the energy company now owned by Duke Energy committed misconduct earlier this year and tainted the liability phase of the litigation. U.S. District Judge Larry McKinney issued a 29-page decision in U.S., et al. v. Cinergy Corp, et al., 1:99-cv-1693, on Thursday, unsealing it and making the ruling public Dec. 22. “In summary, the Court concludes that Cinergy’s misrepresentations about payment of one of its fact…
Indiana Supreme Court justices this morning listened to arguments in the cases of two convicted sex offenders who are challenging a state law requiring them to register for life on a public database, even though they weren’t required to do so at the time of their criminal convictions.The arguments came in the combined case of Todd L. Jensen v. State and Richard P. Wallace v. State, No. 02S04-0803-CR-137, which delves into issues with the state’s sex-offender registry the court hasn’t explored…
A Porter County sewer company must receive prior approval from the Environmental Protection Agency per a federal consent decree in order to be able to expand its services, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled. The appeal from the Indiana Regulatory Commission, Application of South Haven Sewer Works, Inc., City of Portage v. South Haven Sewer Works, Inc., No. 93A02-0703-EX-204, came before the court because the City of Portage believed the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s grant of a certificate of territorial authority…
An Allen County judge was arrested in Indianapolis for allegedly driving drunk and is scheduled to appear in Marion Superior Court Wednesday.Indiana State Capitol Police, a division of the Indiana State Police, stopped a car driven by Allen Circuit Judge Thomas Felts early on the morning of July 18 for a traffic violation in downtown Indianapolis. As the police officer began to get out of his car, Judge Felts’ car backed up and struck the police vehicle, according to a police…
Hoosier voters should be ready to show their government-issued photo identification at the polls next week after the Supreme Court of the United States gave a green light to Indiana’s voter ID law. Other states may follow suit following the high court’s ruling Monday that upheld Indiana’s three-year-old statute.But voters and the legal community should be just as ready for a new wave of Election Day regulation and subsequent litigation because six justices agreed to some extent that voters could…
A transgender former high school student who was barred from his senior prom in Gary because he was wearing a pink dress for the occasion will have his day in court.
Two partners in the Indianapolis law firm Benkie & Crawford received public reprimands from the Indiana Supreme Court Thursday for attorney misconduct in their advertisements for legal services.
The deadline to RSVP for the conclave on the delivery of pro bono services in Indiana has been extended through Monday, April 14. A subcommittee of the Indiana State Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee has organized the all-day event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 25 at Barnes & Thornburg Conference Center, 11 S. Meridian St., Indianapolis. Event organizers extended the deadline to RSVP after realizing some people were on spring break this week. The event will feature education and…
For those photo-showing voters who cast ballots on Nov. 4, rest assured that the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago isn’t going to interfere in the election process already concluded.
Dearborn Superior Judge G. Michael Witte will receive the 2008 Indiana University Asian Alumni Association's Distinguished Asian Pacific American Alumni Award, which recognizes outstanding professional achievements and community service of Asian Pacific American Alumni of the school.
The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer to two cases, one in which the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a high school student's convictions of battery and disorderly conduct after an altercation with school officials.
It was bad enough that Cecilia Means had to watch as her grandmother’s casket was pulled from a waterlogged gravesite where it had been buried for 17 years. On that day in March 2007, the southeast Indiana woman stood covering her mouth and sobbing as workers pulled the stainless steel casket from several feet of muddy brown water and a steady stream of water leaked from where the lid joined the sides. That day seemed liked a nightmare at the 40-acre…
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a former Lake County Recorder’s convictions of extortion, but remanded so that his sentence could be revised because the District Court placed too much weight on following the sentencing guidelines.In United States of America v. Morris Carter, No. 06-2412, Morris Carter challenged his three convictions and sentence of 51 months of incarceration on extortion charges. Carter was found guilty of violating the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. Section 1951(a) while he was still county recorder….
The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer Thursday to two cases dealing with belated appeals. The high court granted transfer with opinion in Demond Hughes v. State of Indiana, No. 49S04-0802-CR-86. At issue was whether Hughes was allowed to file a belated appeal to challenge the appropriateness of his 40-year concurrent sentence. Hughes pleaded guilty to felony murder and Class A misdemeanor reckless possession of a handgun. Initially, the trial court sentenced Hughes to a 50-year concurrent sentence, with five years suspended. Hughes…
A federal judge in South Bend is allowing a civil suit to proceed to trial in a case involving a once-controversial school mental-health screening where parents weren’t informed.U.S. District Judge James Moody for the Northern District of Indiana issued a 45-page ruling Tuesday in Teresa and Michael Rhoades v. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, et al., No. 3:05-CV-586. The case dates to a St. Joseph County student’s suicide in 2003, which spawned the creation of a suicide-prevention pilot program the following year involving…