The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus is offering a comprehensive and aggressive agenda for the 2021 session of the Indiana General Assembly. The bills promote police reform, institute changes to juvenile justice, and address inequities in the health care system, among other things.
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COVID may have seemed like the only thing that happened in 2020, but for Indiana’s legal community, the past year brought watershed developments that will be with us for years to come, many of which were touched directly by the pandemic. Here are the Top 10 non-coronavirus Indiana legal news stories as determined by consensus of the Indiana Lawyer editorial staff.
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A grand jury indicted two Indianapolis police officers on battery and other charges after an investigation into allegations that they used excessive force while arresting demonstrators at a May protest over the death of George Floyd, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced Wednesday.
Eyes and ears of those gathered on the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law lawn Friday were trained on members of the Indianapolis legal community calling for action to push for racial equality.
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A judge will weigh on Wednesday how to respond to allegations that federal immigration agents in the Chicago area have used excessive force, following a surge of recent court filings detailing tense encounters between agents and local residents.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision that Evansville police officers did not use excessive force on a man who died following a violent 2019 struggle, in a case which sparked nationwide publicity and an investigation by the Associated Press and Frontline.
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that a former New Castle police lieutenant was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison after allegedly using excessive force against people in custody and obstructing justice by attempting to deceive investigators.
The fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by officers after he ran away from a traffic stop in January 2023 exposed serious problems in the Memphis Police Department, from the use of excessive force to its mistreatment of Black people in the majority-Black city, a federal investigation has found.
An Evansville police officer did not violate a man’s Fourth Amendment rights and was entitled to qualified immunity after a physical confrontation resulted in the man being knocked unconscious, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday.
A federal judge rejected a plea agreement Wednesday for a former Muncie police officer accused of trying to cover up another officer’s use of excessive force, setting the stage for his third trial in the case.
The estate of a woman who died after a struggle with Indianapolis police may pursue a battery claim at trial next month after a federal judge denied the city’s motion to dismiss.
A judge sentenced an ex-Colorado police officer to 14 months in jail for his role in the death of Elijah McClain after hearing the young Black man’s mother on Friday call the officer a “bully with a badge” who will always have blood on his hands.
A pair of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were found innocent of felony battery and several other charges Friday that stemmed from allegations they used excessive force during a protest that followed the death of George Floyd.
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin’s appeal of his conviction for second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd.
Jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict on federal civil rights charges Thursday in the trial of a former Louisville police officer charged in the police raid that killed Breonna Taylor, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial.
A former Gary police officer was sentenced Wednesday to a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to violating a handcuffed man’s civil rights by using excessive force while arresting him.
A former officer with the Elkhart Police Department was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for his role in assaulting a handcuffed detainee, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Four former Memphis police officers pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal civil rights charges in the violent beating and death of Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop nine months ago.
An Indianapolis police officer who pleaded guilty to kicking a handcuffed man in the face during a 2021 arrest was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison Friday by a judge who said the attack “shocked the conscience.”
Tou Thao, the last former Minneapolis police officer convicted in state court for his role in the killing of George Floyd, was sentenced Monday to four years and nine months — even as he denied wrongdoing.
A man who was hit and tased by law enforcement after his mother requested a wellness check failed to convince the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that the sheriff’s deputies entered the home unlawfully and used excessive force.
A judge sentenced a former Muncie police sergeant to 19 months in prison Tuesday for obstructing justice by filing a false report in 2018 to cover up excessive use of force by other officers under his command.
The Justice Department issued a withering critique of Minneapolis police, alleging they systematically discriminated against minorities, violated constitutional rights and disregarded the safety of people in custody for years before George Floyd was killed.
The two Indianapolis police officers who are facing criminal charges related to the death of Herman Whitfield III have secured a partial stay of the proceedings in a related federal civil case.