Study committee weighs HIV laws, funding for mental health in Indiana
Lawmakers and other stakeholders on Tuesday discussed possible changes to Indiana laws concerning HIV-specific criminal penalties and sentence enhancements.
criminal code
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Web Exclusive: Bill aims to bring local criminal justice stakeholders out of ‘silos’ to study reforms
House Bill 1068 would allow for the creation of local justice reinvestment advisory councils modeled after the statewide JRAC. The local councils would be tasked with reviewing criminal justice practices on a county or regional level, collecting data and reporting back to JRAC, which would use the data to make policy decisions.
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Creating collaborative communities: Rush stresses reforms
The importance of community collaboration in the criminal justice system — particularly through ongoing reform and problem-solving courts — was the key message of Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush’s 2020 State of the Judiciary address.
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Articles
Laws criminalizing HIV to be reviewed by legislative interim study committee
Heeding a call from a bipartisan group of legislators, Indiana will undertake a review of its criminal code for laws concerning HIV, with the focus on modernizing state statutes and helping to end the HIV epidemic.
Corrections and Criminal Code committee to convene Thursday, study criminal justice reform
Topics including appointed counsel at initial hearings and juvenile justice issues are on the agenda for this fall’s meetings of the Interim Study Committee on Corrections and Criminal Code.
Legislative Council sets topics for 2021 interim committees
Ten interim study committees were assigned topics by the Legislative Council. The committees will meet during the summer and fall months in preparation for the 2022 session of the Indiana General Assembly.
Holcomb signs bill creating local JRACs for criminal justice reform
A bill to enhance criminal justice reform efforts at the local level is now law in Indiana. Gov. Eric Holcomb on Thursday signed legislation calling for the creation of county or regional justice reinvestment advisory councils.
Juvenile justice bill headed to Indiana House floor
The juvenile justice bill that national organizations say Indiana needs to ensure its children can move past the “poor decisions made during their childhood” is scheduled to arrive Tuesday on the Indiana House floor after two committees in the lower chamber voted unanimously in support of the measure.
COA rejects vagueness, sufficiency arguments against domestic violence conviction
The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld a domestic battery conviction against a man who claimed he wasn’t actually married to his victim. The panel also rejected arguments that the statute was unconstitutionally vague.
Report: Indiana tops U.S. in prison sentences of 50 years or longer
As part of a call by The Sentencing Project to abolish the mindset of locking people up and throwing away the key, Indiana is being highlighted as having the highest percentage of individuals in the nation who are serving 50 years or more in prison.
Bill aims to prevent ‘social justice prosecuting’
Under a bill in the Statehouse, a prosecutor who establishes a policy of not charging certain offenses would be considered “noncompliant.” But local prosecutors fear changes that would step on their prosecutorial discretion and give the attorney general, a statewide officeholder, a say over her local decisions.
Bill protecting Indiana public monuments advances out of Senate committee
After the protests this summer that led to the destruction or defacement of monuments nationwide, a bill designed to protect Indiana’s historical markers is advancing in the Indiana Legislature.
Law enforcement reform bill advances with bipartisan support
A bipartisan bill aimed at increasing police accountability and enacting criminal justice reform advanced to the Indiana Senate after lawmakers unanimously approved the measure in a House vote Tuesday.
COA: Intelligence text exclusion not abuse of discretion in residential entry case
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a Lawrence County man’s residential entry conviction, finding the exclusion of his psychological assessment from evidence was not an abuse of discretion.
Appeals panel to hear arguments in traffic stop, cash forfeiture case
The Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday will hear oral argument in a civil forfeiture case involving the Hancock County prosecutor and tens of thousands of dollars.
COA affirms reincarceration of man erroneously released years early
A man who was erroneously released from prison more than two years early must return to the Department of Correction after the Indiana Court of Appeals declined to adopt a doctrine that would award him credit for the time he was free.
ISBA section calls for nonviolent sentencing reforms
More than six years after sweeping criminal code reforms were enacted in Indiana, a section of the Indiana State Bar Association is calling for additional sentencing reforms to establish parity with those who received longer sentences before the reforms were enacted.
Justices to hear case of first impression involving teen’s attempted murder conviction
The Indiana Supreme Court will hear a case of first impression involving a teen’s attempted murder conviction. The case previously divided an appellate panel that reversed the conviction based on the exclusion of the 15-year-old defendant’s mother from the courtroom.
Lafayette girl, 17, charged in 2 killings tied to attempted robbery
A 17-year-old Lafayette girl has been charged in the fatal shootings of a pizza delivery driver and her boyfriend, who the delivery driver shot to death during an attempted robbery, authorities said.
Conviction upheld for man who killed wife over mental health issues
A man who shot and killed his wife during an argument about her mental health issues could not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals on Friday that his decades-long sentence for murder was inappropriate.
Woman charged in hit-and-run at Bloomington protest
An Indiana woman was charged Thursday in a hit-and-run crash that sent one woman to the hospital and caused minor injuries to a man during a protest in Bloomington over the assault of a Black man by a group of white men.
Northern District OKs video, phone conferencing in criminal cases
Some criminal proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, including pleas and sentencings, are now authorized to take place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the district court announced this week.