7th Circuit Court of Appeals - The Indiana Lawyer

7th Circuit affirms restrictions on absentee voting; judge stays injunction in noon deadline case

October 7, 2020 | Marilyn Odendahl

The effort to allow all Hoosiers to vote by absentee ballot in the November presidential election has been blocked by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals which, in an echo of the state’s argument, found Election Day is too close to make any changes now. In a separate case, a judge temporarily stayed pending appeal an order blocking an Indiana law that requires absentee ballots be received by noon to be counted.

7th Circuit splits in dual citizen’s challenge to reduction of U.S. Social Security benefits

October 6, 2020 | Katie Stancombe

A split 7th Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed a grant of summary judgment to the Social Security Administration on Monday in a class-action suit brought by a Canadian woman with dual citizenship who alleged her U.S. Social Security benefits were wrongly reduced based on similar benefits she receives from Canada.

7th Circuit declines to answer Barrett COVID diagnosis questions

October 6, 2020 | Dave Stafford

News in recent days that Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals this summer had COVID-19 was overwhelmed by President Donald Trump’s diagnosis and hospitalization, and a 7th Circuit spokesman said Tuesday the court would have no comment on Barrett’s earlier case.

2 justices slam court’s 2015 decision in gay marriage case

October 5, 2020 | Associated Press

The United States Supreme Court, already poised to take a significant turn to the right, opened its new term Monday with a jolt from two conservative justices who raised new criticism of the court’s embrace of same-sex marriage.

AG Hill appeals ruling blocking noon Election Day absentee receipt law

October 5, 2020 | Dave Stafford

Attorney General Curtis Hill’s office is appealing a judge’s ruling that absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 must be counted. Meanwhile, the state acknowledged in its filing that election officials are taking steps to count those ballots if the judge’s order stands.

Sources: Barrett, husband had coronavirus, recovered

October 2, 2020 | Associated Press

Supreme Court nominee, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge and University of Notre Dame Law School professor Amy Coney Barrett and her husband, Jesse, had coronavirus earlier this year and recovered, according to two administration officials.

Mail-in voting advocates alert 7th Circuit to dispute with state’s argument

October 2, 2020 | Marilyn Odendahl

Plaintiffs in Indiana’s vote by mail case are questioning the state’s assertion made this week in oral arguments to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that Hoosiers can request a special exemption from the Indiana Election Commission to cast an absentee ballot if they do not meet one of the law’s categories of who may vote by mail.

Barrett opposed ‘abortion on demand,’ raising doubts on Roe

October 2, 2020 | Associated Press

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett signed a 2006 newspaper ad sponsored by an anti-abortion group in which she said she opposed “abortion on demand” and defended “the right to life from fertilization to the end of natural life.”

7th Circuit judges ask about Indiana voters in vote by mail case

October 1, 2020 | Marilyn Odendahl

During oral argument in the dispute over Indiana’s restrictions on absentee voting, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals panel focused on Hoosier voters by asking which of the proposed remedies would cause the least confusion and what remedies are currently available to the electorate.

Trump thrusts Supreme Court pick Barrett into election turmoil

October 1, 2020 | Associated Press

President Donald Trump’s stark expectation that the Supreme Court will intervene to “look at the ballots” in what he calls a rigged election cast new questions Wednesday on the Senate’s rush to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the vacant seat before Nov. 3.

Challenges to Indiana voting laws pile up in 7th Circuit, which will livestream one today

September 30, 2020 | Marilyn Odendahl

Indiana’s prohibition against no-excuse absentee voting goes before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday afternoon, with the plaintiffs trying to convince the appellate panel to reverse the district judge’s ruling and allow all registered Hoosier voters to cast their ballots by mail in the Nov. 3 presidential election. The federal appeals court will livestream oral arguments in the case.

Federal judge blocks Indiana’s noon deadline for receiving mail-in ballots

September 30, 2020 | Indianapolis Business Journal Staff and IL Staff

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a state law that declares mail-in absentee ballots late and invalid if they aren’t received by noon on Election Day.

Hoosier nominee: Barrett stands on Ginsburg’s shoulders to continue Scalia’s work

September 30, 2020 | Marilyn Odendahl

Amy Coney Barrett, a devout Catholic and mother of seven, has been a favorite of social conservatives. However, her confirmation is already inciting partisan fighting, coming just weeks before the Nov. 3 presidential election. Republican senators are preparing for a swift process with her hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled for Oct. 12 and possibly her nomination being sent to the Senate floor by late October.

State opposes ‘last minute change’ to polling hours law

September 29, 2020 | Marilyn Odendahl

The state of Indiana is trying to stop a federal judge’s ruling that would allow Hoosier voters themselves to go to state court and file for an extension of polling hours if problems arise with balloting on Election Day.

Supreme Court vacancy likely to inflame presidential debate

September 29, 2020 | Associated Press

President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, were already set to fight when they share a stage Tuesday in Cleveland, but the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg means things may get tenser even faster.

Suit: Challenged law may invalidate tens of thousands of Indiana mail-in ballots

September 24, 2020 | Dave Stafford

An estimated 10,000 Hoosiers’ mail-in absentee ballots were rejected as “late” during Indiana’s 2020 primary election under a disputed Indiana law, suggesting multiple times more ballots may be thrown out in the Nov. 3 general election, groups challenging the law in federal court contend.

Lawyer: Case of Black inmate set to die reveals racial bias

September 24, 2020 | Associated Press

The lawyer for the first Black inmate scheduled to die this year as part of the Trump administration’s resumption of federal executions says race played a central role in landing her client on death row for slaying a young white Iowa couple and burning them in the trunk of their car.

7th Circuit vacates intellectually disabled killer’s death sentence

September 22, 2020 | Katie Stancombe

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated the death sentence of a federal death row inmate convicted of murdering a teen girl. The condemned man has spent years claiming he is intellectually disabled, and the appellate court agreed, citing evidence withheld by the government during his trial.

Braun supports vote on Supreme Court nominee before November

September 22, 2020 | Associated Press

Indiana Sen. Mike Braun said Tuesday that he supports the Senate taking a confirmation vote on a nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the November election. Braun also urged President Donald Trump to tap 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge and University of Notre Dame Law School professor Amy Coney Barrett.

Romney OKs voting on SCOTUS nominee, all but assures approval

September 22, 2020 | Associated Press

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said Tuesday he supports voting to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court, all but ensuring President Donald Trump has the backing to push his choice to confirmation over Democratic objections that it’s too close to the November election.

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