An inmate lawsuit filed against New Castle Correctional Facility seemingly marks the first time a judge has ruled that a private prison operator can be liable for human trafficking in a punitive setting.

The requirement that alcohol permit holders live in the state where they do business is based on the simple notion that neighbors care more about the well-being of their communities than out-of-towners do. But a Tennessee case challenging that notion in the U.S. Supreme Court could spill over on similar Indiana laws.

Indiana Lawyer’s top story of 2018 began inside an Indianapolis bar in the cool early-morning hours of Thursday, March 15. Attorney General Curtis Hill had had a few drinks. A few too many, several witnesses would later claim.

Indiana, like many states, has been amending and enacting new voting laws in the name of stamping out voter fraud. Lawyers and civic organizations are challenging laws and regulations that they believe are restricting the right to vote.

Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission members, including three from Indiana, are preparing to vote on a proposal that would sunset the organization’s pollution control standards. That proposal has yielded thousands of pages of public comments from proponents who say ORSANCO’s standards are redundant and, more significantly, from opponents who fear water quality in Indiana would suffer.