Indiana Court decisions – April 8-21, 2021
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.
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Web Exclusive: Supreme Court commission goes beyond ‘court packing’
President Joe Biden has created the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, a group tasked with studying court reforms ranging from the number of justices to their tenure to their jurisdiction. But will the work of the commission lead to sweeping reforms?
SCOTUS to settle circuit split in foreign arbitration case
An aircraft engine fire that sparked a foreign arbitration discovery battle between an American manufacturer and a British company over a 150-year-old law is headed to the United States Supreme Court for clarification.
Stafford: Hoosiers may yet vote by mail; lawyers will vote by email
Indiana has no legitimate excuse to require “excuses” for registered voters who wish to cast an absentee ballot. The state is not our parent, and in the last vote, plenty of us determined that as grown adults we shouldn’t have to go through a ridiculous exercise of asking their permission. The last thing that ought to be is a law.
Teen told police ‘shadowy man’ led him to kill 6-year-old
A 14-year-old boy charged in the strangulation death of a 6-year-old northern Indiana girl told police a “shadowy man” led him to kill the girl, according to an investigative report released Friday.
Student’s Snapchat profanity leads to high court speech case
Fourteen-year-old Brandi Levy was having that kind of day where she just wanted to scream. So she did, in a profanity-laced posting on Snapchat that has, improbably, ended up before the Supreme Court in the most significant case on student speech in more than 50 years.
Justices overturn ruling to pay contractor after bank acquired business
The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday struck down lower court rulings in favor of an unpaid contractor that performed work for a South Bend business, finding that because the business’s assets are now owned by a bank rather than the prior company, the new bank-owned business is not liable for the bill.
Supreme Court notebook: David faces Goliaths over pipeline
On one side of an upcoming Supreme Court case over a proposed natural gas pipeline in New Jersey are two lawyers with more than 250 arguments between them. On the other is a lawyer for New Jersey who will be making his first Supreme Court appearance. It may be the greatest numerical mismatch in the history of the high court.
SCOTUS wants Indiana to respond to absentee voting suit
U.S. Supreme Court justices want Indiana to justify its absentee voting restrictions and have formally requested the Indiana Attorney General’s Office to respond to a constitutional challenge after the state previously waived its right to reply.
Indiana woman reaches plea deal in baby’s meth-related death
An eastern Indiana woman whose three-month-old son died last year from methamphetamine intoxication has agreed to plead guilty to a neglect charge in the infant’s death.
Justices accept resignation of suspended Decatur lawyer
A northern Indiana lawyer who two years ago was suspended and jailed for forging a judge’s signature on a phony divorce order and attempting to coopt a deputy prosecutor’s identity has resigned from the practice of law rather than face a subsequent attorney discipline complaint.
Biden praying for ‘the right verdict’ in Chauvin trial
President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was “praying the verdict is the right verdict” in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. He said he believed the case involving the death of George Floyd, which has gone to the jury and put the nation on edge, was “overwhelming.”
JNC to interview candidates to succeed Kirsch on COA in May
All 23 lawyers and judges who applied to succeed Judge James Kirsch on the Indiana Court of Appeals will be interviewed by the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission next month.
Mears: No red flag petition sought for FedEx shooter
The gunman in Indianapolis’ deadliest-ever mass shooting was never the subject of a court proceeding under Indiana’s red flag law, the Marion County Prosecutor said, because the suspect agreed to surrender a shotgun to law enforcement over concerns that he could be a danger to himself or others.
Texas’ longest serving death row inmate has sentence tossed
An appeals court has overturned the sentence of Texas’ longest serving death row inmate whose attorneys say has languished in prison for more than 45 years because he’s too mentally ill to be executed.
7th Circuit proposes local fee order rule changes
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has proposed revisions to its local fee rule that would strike the explicit current local attorney admission fee of $15 and replace it with language referring to the court’s attorney admission local fee order. That order currently sets the fee at $15, as well.
Foreclosure case remanded over statutory violation
A foreclosure dispute over a Middletown home is headed back to the trial court in Henry County after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined an order granting immediate possession of the home to its seller was erroneous.
General Assembly overrides veto, sets stage for court fight over governor’s emergency powers
The Indiana House on Thursday morning voted to override Gov. Eric Holcomb’s veto of a bill giving legislators more authority to intervene during emergencies declared by the governor.
23 judges, lawyers, apply to succeed Kirsch on Court of Appeals
Twelve judges and 11 lawyers from central Indiana have applied to succeed retiring Judge James Kirsch on the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Health provider loses Medicaid appeal seeking OTC medicine reimbursement
A company that operates health care facilities for people with mental disabilities has lost an appeal of judgments saying it was not entitled to reimbursement from the state’s Medicaid program for the costs of over-the-counter medication.