The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed the modification of a Dearborn County mother’s physical and legal custody of her child over to his father, also ruling her relocation claims moot after her request to do so was denied.
A man who repeatedly sought six-figure tax refunds from the IRS based on sovereign-citizen-style claims lost his appeal of a three-year sentence and an order that he repay nearly $150,000.
A taxpayer lost his bid to be the lead plaintiff in a proposed class-action over allegedly unpaid interest due to people who received refunds because they had overpaid their property tax bills.
The following 7th Circuit Court opinions were posted after IL Deadline Friday and Sunday:
Earlene Branch Peterson v. William P. Barr
20-2252
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Terre Haute Division. Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.
Civil. Vacates the preliminary injunction issued by the Southern District Court halting the federal execution of Daniel Lee. Finds the plaintiffs’ APA claim lacks any arguable legal basis and is therefore frivolous. Also finds section 16-90-502(e)(1) of the Arkansas Code is irrelevant to the case at hand and that the district court judge was wrong to insert it into the case.
Justice Clarence Thomas spoke and Chief Justice John Roberts ruled. The US Supreme Court’s most unusual term featured victories for immigrants, abortion rights, LGBTQ workers and religious freedoms. The usually quiet Thomas’ baritone was heard by the whole world when the coronavirus outbreak upended the court’s traditional way of doing business. When the biggest decisions were handed down, the chief justice was almost always in the majority and dictated the reach of the court’s most controversial cases, whether they were won by the left or the right.
The following Indiana Supreme Court opinion was posted after IL deadline Thursday:
Tammi Clark, as personal representative of the Estate of Kandace Pyles, deceased v. Samer Mattar, M.D.
20S-CT-109
Civil tort. Affirms the Indiana Court of Appeals’ reversal and remand for a new trial for Tammi Clark against Dr. Samer Matter. Finds that an unwilling juror should have been struck for cause in Marion Superior Court and that there was prejudice because Clark was forced to exhaust her last peremptory challenge and accept an objectionable juror. Justice Mark Massa concurs in part, dissents in part. Justice Geoffrey Slaughter dissents.
Indiana Supreme Court justices on Thursday split in ordering a new trial in a wrongful death case involving an unwilling juror and a denied for-cause challenge.
The following 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion was posted after IL deadline Wednesday:
C.Y. Wholesale, Inc., et al. v. Eric Holcomb, et al.
19-3034
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Civil. Vacates the injunction prohibiting the state of Indiana from enforcing its criminal prohibition on the manufacture, delivery or possession of smokable hemp under Indiana Code § 35-48-3-10.1. Finds the district court’s injunction swept too broadly. Remands for proceedings.
An injunction prohibiting the state government from prosecuting certain uses of smokable hemp has been lifted after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found the prohibition was overbroad. But when the smoke clears, the appellate panel said a revised injunction may still be appropriate.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a former Danville man’s murder conviction following the death of his girlfriend’s minor child from multiple blunt force traumatic injuries.
A decades-long sentence has been affirmed for a woman who stole personal items from her former employer after being told she wouldn’t receive back wages after the business went under.
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled Thursday that a large chunk of eastern Oklahoma remains an American Indian reservation, a decision that state and federal officials have warned could throw Oklahoma into chaos.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Xavier Wesley Day v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
19A-CR-2997
Criminal. Affirms Xavier Day’s 40-year sentence for conviction of Level 1 felony murder. Finds the St. Joseph Superior Court did not commit fundamental error in instructing the jury.
The Supreme Court of the United States is siding with two Catholic schools in a ruling that underscores that certain employees of religious schools, hospitals and social service centers can’t sue for employment discrimination. The high court’s ruling on Wednesday was 7-2.
The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with the Trump administration in its effort to allow employers who cite religious or moral objections to opt out of providing no-cost birth control to women as required by the Affordable Care Act.
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.
A woman who learned years after she had been told that a hepatitis test was negative that in fact the test had come back positive had her case reinstated June 26 by the majority of an Indiana Court of Appeals panel. Two of three judges found a clinic fraudulently concealed the woman’s positive test result.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Monwell Douglas v. Faith Reeves
18‐2588
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Terre Haute Division.
Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.
Civil. Affirms the Indiana Southern District Court’s grant of summary judgment to Faith Reeves against Monwell Douglas, an Indiana prisoner who claimed Reeves retaliated against him for activity protected by the First Amendment. Finds no reasonable jury could conclude that Reeves inflicted deprivations on Douglas likely to deter a person of ordinary firmness from engaging in First Amendment activity.
An Indiana prisoner whose discipline conviction was overturned for lack of evidence did not persuade the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that his case manager later retaliated against him for activity protected by the First Amendment.
A man convicted in a drug conspiracy could not convince the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that he pleaded guilty to a lesser amount than what the government indicted him for.