Articles

Lawyers: Immigration court system is ‘red tape gone crazy’

The Associated Press visited immigration courts in 11 cities more than two dozen times during a 10-day period in late fall, including Chicago’s two locations, which serve Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. They found inefficient proceedings leading to years-long gaps between court dates, misplaced files, missing interpreters and immigrants not knowing how to fill out forms or get them translated.

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Web Exclusive: Expungement wait period case awaits justices

After more than 10 years with a criminal record, an Elkhart man successfully petitioned to reduce his felony conviction to a misdemeanor. But when he tried to expunge the conviction two years later, he faced an unexpected setback. The Indiana Supreme Court will decide whether he and others in his situation must wait longer for an expungement.

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Miami County seeks to overturn dam repairs ruling

A northern Indiana county is seeking to overturn a court ruling that puts it on the hook for costly repairs to six aging dams in a lake-filled subdivision. Miami County is challenging a Marion County judge’s August ruling which found that the Indiana Department of Natural Resources had the authority to require property owners and Miami County to fix the dams at the Hidden Hills subdivision.

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7th Circuit reverses Indiana prison mailbox untimeliness ruling

A federal prisoner who struggled to file an administrative complaint through the prison mail system and was denied his complaint due to untimeliness has won a reversal from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 7th Circuit concluded that the complaint was filed the moment it was placed in the prison’s mail and not upon its receipt.

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