Indiana Court Decisions – Nov. 5-17, 2020
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.
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Indiana to switch to Uniform Bar Exam in 2021
Indiana has decided to join the growing majority of states and adopt the Uniform Bar Exam in July 2021, according to an announcement Tuesday from the Indiana Supreme Court. Justices also announced Tuesday that the February 2021 Bar Exam will be given remotely.
Kirsch questioned about Chicago crime guns during confirmation hearing
During his allotted time to question Thomas Kirsch II about his potential confirmation to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, bypassed all inquiries about the judiciary and pressed the nominee on the flow of guns from Indiana to Chicago.
Indianapolis Assessment Intervention Center to open next week
The Assessment Intervention Center, the first completed building at the new Community Justice Campus in Marion County, is set to open next week.
Judge: Kosher meals don’t infringe on Muslim inmate’s rights
A Muslim inmate in the Indiana Department of Correction is not entitled to a halal diet, a federal judge has ruled, finding that the inmate failed to prove that eating a kosher diet instead would violate his Islamic beliefs.
Hoosiers encouraged to file for restitution from $19.5 million Equifax settlement
Hoosiers eligible to receive restitution as a result of a 2017 Equifax data breach that exposed the Social Security numbers and other private information of millions of people should quickly file their claims, according to the Indiana Attorney General’s office.
Memorial scholarship honors late Floyd County prosecutor Henderson
The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council Board of Directors has approved a memorial scholarship fund honoring long time Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson.
In-house legal departments expect pandemic-induced changes to continue
Chief legal officers across the country say COVID-19 has left their corporate legal departments with less money and more work, according to the results of an Altman Weil survey conducted in September and October.
Barnes welcomes former U.S. Attorney Minkler to white-collar practice
Josh Minkler, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, has joined Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis where he will be part of the firm’s white-collar and investigations practice group. The announcement came days after Minkler announced he was stepping down as the top federal prosecutor based in Indianapolis.
After criticism, Feinstein to step down as top Senate Judiciary Democrat
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Monday she will step down from her role as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving up the powerful spot after public criticism of her bipartisan outreach and her handling of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings.
Biden transition OK’d to start as Trump runs out of options
The federal government recognized President-elect Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election, formally starting the transition of power after President Donald Trump spent weeks testing the boundaries of American democracy. Trump relented after suffering yet more legal and procedural defeats in his seemingly futile effort to overturn the election with baseless claims of fraud.
Carl Bernstein: Indiana’s Young among 21 GOP senators contemptuous of Trump
Former Watergate sleuth Carl Bernstein took to Twitter to list the names of 21 Republican senators who he says have “repeatedly expressed contempt” for Donald Trump and his fitness to be president. Included on Bernstein’s tweet was Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young.
Kirsch pressed on originalism at 7th Circuit confirmation hearing
As many judicial nominees before him have done, Thomas Kirsch II told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that he would apply the law as written but his explanations of how he would interpret statutes brought intense scrutiny from senators on both sides of aisle.
Indiana Southern District closes clerk’s offices to public
Federal court clerk’s offices across the Southern District of Indiana are now closed to the public indefinitely as the months-long COVID-19 pandemic continues.
December interviews scheduled for Marion Superior Court judicial vacancy
Interviews of applicants to fill a vacancy that will occur on the Marion Superior Court when Judge Lisa Borges retires have been scheduled for next month, the Indiana Supreme Court announced Monday.
Student told to remove shirt protesting racism sues school
A Wabash County student is suing his high school after an incident earlier this year when he was told by school officials to remove his shirt protesting systemic racism.
Trump’s legal team cried vote fraud, but courts found none
The Trump campaign legal strategy to overturn the results of the election may have played well in front of television cameras and on talk radio to Trump’s supporters, but it has proved a disaster in court. Judges uniformly rejected claims of vote fraud and found the campaign’s legal work amateurish.
AG Hill ordered to pay $19K in disciplinary costs
The Indiana Supreme Court has ordered Republican Attorney General Curtis Hill to pay more than $19,000 in expenses in a disciplinary case stemming from allegations he groped a state lawmaker and three other women during a party.
Justices put off case over access to Russia probe grand jury
The U.S. Supreme Court is putting off upcoming arguments about whether Congress should have access to secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Jury duty? No thanks, say many, forcing trials to be delayed
Jury duty notices have set Nicholas Philbrook’s home on edge with worries about him contracting the coronavirus and passing it on to his father-in-law, a cancer survivor with diabetes in his mid-70s who is at higher risk of developing serious complications from COVID-19.