Articles

Ex-judge must take anger-management classes

A former Maryland judge who pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation for ordering a defendant to be physically shocked in his courtroom will have to take anger-management classes as part of his sentence.

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Indiana House committee tosses hate-crimes bill

Legislation creating the state’s first hate-crime law to help victims targeted because of their race, sexual identity, religion or other specified characteristic is expected to die because it won’t get a committee hearing in the House, leaving lawmakers few options to address civil rights this year.

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Indiana business community fears fallout from gay rights failure

Indiana corporate leaders warned that the failure of the Republican-controlled Legislature to enact a law protecting gay, lesbian and bisexual people from discrimination could rebound on business, making it harder to recruit talented employees and sell the state as an attractive place to live.

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Indiana lawmakers face deadline to keep bills alive

Indiana lawmakers have days to decide whether to keep certain contentious bills alive during this legislative session, including one that would extend civil rights protections to gays and lesbians, but not transgender people, one that would use a tax increase to fund road improvements and one that would further restrict the sale of cold medicines used to make methamphetamine.

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Gay-rights bill that leaves out transgender protections advances

A Senate committee on Wednesday narrowly advanced a bill that would extend civil rights protections to gay and lesbian Hoosiers but punt the issue of transgender discrimination to a summer study committee, as well as offer religious exemptions for clergy and other groups.

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Pence says he won’t support LGBT bill that ‘diminishes’ religious freedom

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in his State of the State speech Tuesday night finally addressed the most contentious issue at the Statehouse this year – how to balance religious freedom with civil rights for LGBT people – but his statements left unclear whether he would sign any of the bills proposed so far during this General Assembly.

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Officer’s mistrial in Baltimore death a letdown for both sides

As jurors deliberated the fate of one of six police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, Baltimore braced for a possible repeat of the protests, destruction and dismay that engulfed the city in April, when Gray died of a broken neck in the back of a police van. But instead of a dramatic conclusion, there was confusion.

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Anderson latest city to pass local gay rights ordinance

Officials in another Indiana city have approved banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity ahead of an expected debate in the state Legislature over whether to pass a statewide law that supersedes any local ordinance.

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GOP bill on Indiana LGBT rights has religious exemptions

Indiana Senate Republicans released a proposal Tuesday that would extend state civil rights protections to LGBT people while also carving out broad exemptions for religious institutions and some small businesses that object to working with gay people.

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