The Republican-dominated Indiana Senate passed a stripped-down hate crimes bill Thursday and sent the measure to the House, where Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and others hope the legislation can still be strengthened. The Senate voted 39-10 in favor of the legislation that was changed two days earlier to remove a list of specifically protected characteristics, including sexual orientation, gender identity and race.
After more than three hours of testimony and discussion on Monday morning, the Senate Public Policy Committee voted to send a bias crimes bill to the full Senate for consideration. Senate Bill 12 would give judges the ability to consider whether a crime was committed out of hate or bias toward specific groups of individuals as an aggravating circumstance at sentencing.
A proposed Indiana hate crimes law has been endorsed by a state legislative committee. The Senate Public Policy Committee voted 9-1 on Monday to advance the bill to the full Senate after hearing nearly three hours of public testimony from opponents and supporters of the legislation.
Opponents and supporters of a proposed Indiana hate crimes law are arguing their positions before state legislators. A state Senate committee opened a hearing Monday morning on a bill that would create a law specifically against crimes fueled by biases regarding traits such as race, religion and sexual orientation.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s conviction and sentence Thursday for conspiracy to commit robbery, finding the denial of his motion to change venue and suppress evidence was not erroneous.
A Michigan judge who held an extraordinary hearing before sentencing sports doctor Larry Nassar to prison for sexually assaulting female athletes refused to disqualify herself from the case Friday if higher courts send it back to fix any errors. Ingham County Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said some of her courtroom comments about Nassar were “perhaps inartful,” but she denied any bias.
A judge who sentenced disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar to prison for molesting girls will hold a hearing on a request that she disqualify herself from his appeal of the sentence. Nassar’s court-appointed appellate lawyers said the judge was biased, citing comments such as saying she would allow someone “to do to him what he did to others” if the constitution allowed.
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a gay death row inmate in South Dakota who says jurors were biased against him because of his sexual orientation. Charles Rhines tried to persuade the court to take an interest in his case after the justices last year ruled that evidence of racial bias in the jury room allows a judge to consider setting aside a verdict.
A judge has granted a change of venue to an Evansville man charged with murder in two cases, including one in which an Evansville woman was dismembered.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana’s Transgender Education and Advocacy Program is organizing an “Ask Me Anything” event starting at noon Wednesday on Facebook Live, featuring advocates Lo Ray and Michelle Young.
About 11 months after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issued its landmark ruling which found Title VII does prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has reached the same conclusion.
A lawyer’s arguments on behalf of a client suing Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act has drawn a second written warning for his claims that a magistrate judge is biased.
Fourteen days after rallying on the third floor of the Indiana Statehouse to cheer, applaud and push the Legislature into passing a hate crime bill this session, advocates were stunned the measure failed last week to even get a committee vote.
A national coalition of fair housing advocates has filed a complaint in federal court alleging intentional and discriminatory violations of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 against minority communities across the country, including communities in Indiana.
Hate crime legislation has again failed in the Indiana Statehouse after Senate Republicans could not reach a consensus on what the bill should include.
A former Lake County sheriff is appealing his conviction in a public corruption case.
Though an attorney who served as a reference for his application to the Indiana Supreme Court served as counsel for an adoption case in his court, a Hamilton County judge was not required to recuse himself because of that relationship, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled.
Emphasizing the economic as well as social benefits of hate crime laws, an energic and diverse crowd rallied inside the Indiana Statehouse Tuesday in support of two bills that would add penalties for crimes motivated by bias.
Employment defense firm Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart P.C., which has a significant presence in Indianapolis, is accused of discriminating against female shareholders in a federal lawsuit seeking $300 million in damages on behalf of 100 non-equity women shareholders at the firm.
With two hate crime bills introduced in the Indiana Legislature this session, proponents are hoping the third time will be the charm for finally getting a measure to the governor’s desk. Advocates plan a rally at the Statehouse on Tuesday.