Federal executions halted; Garland orders protocols reviewed
The Justice Department is halting federal executions after a historic use of capital punishment by the Trump administration, which carried out 13 executions in six months.
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Beech Grove man charged with setting Amtrak buildings on fire
A man accused of setting two buildings on fire at the Amtrak facility in Beech Grove last month was arrested Monday on federal criminal charges.
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dies at 88
Donald Rumsfeld, the two-time defense secretary and one-time presidential candidate whose reputation as a skilled bureaucrat and visionary of a modern U.S. military was unraveled by the long and costly Iraq war, died Tuesday. He was 88.
Judge reinstates enhanced payments to unemployed
Finding Indiana state law requires the state to accept the federally-funded enhanced unemployment benefits, a Marion County Court has granted plaintiffs’ request to require the state to resume $300 payments to Hoosiers who lost their jobs because of COVID-19.
Indiana unions sue over yearly hurdle on teacher union dues
Three Indiana teachers unions have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block a new state law that would require educators to renew requests every year for automatic paycheck deductions of union dues.
Biden to sign bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday
The United States is commemorating the end of slavery with a new federal holiday.
Loan relief granted to defrauded for-profit college students
The U.S. Education Department said Wednesday it’s erasing student debt for thousands of borrowers who attended a for-profit college chain that made exaggerated claims about its graduates’ success in finding jobs. The Biden administration said it is approving 18,000 loan forgiveness claims from former students of ITT Technical Institute, a chain that closed in 2016 after being dealt a series of sanctions by the Obama administration.
Emails show Trump pressured Justice Dept. over 2020 election
During the last weeks of his presidency, Donald Trump and his allies pressured the Justice Department to investigate claims of widespread 2020 election fraud that even his former attorney general declared without evidence, newly released emails show.
Justice Department to tighten rules on seizing Congress data
The Justice Department will tighten its rules around obtaining records from members of Congress, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, amid revelations the department under former President Donald Trump had secretly seized records from Democrats and members of the media.
Justice Department will review GOP voting laws
The Justice Department will scrutinize a wave of new laws in Republican-controlled states that tighten voting rules, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday, vowing to take action on any violations of federal law.
Trump DOJ seized data from House Democrats in leaks probe
The Justice Department under former President Donald Trump seized data from the accounts of at least two members of the House Intelligence Committee in 2018 as part of an aggressive crackdown on leaks related to the Russia investigation and other national security matters, according to a committee official and two people familiar with the investigation.
US increasingly unlikely to meet Biden’s July 4 vax goal
For months, President Joe Biden has laid out goal after goal for taming the coronavirus pandemic and then exceeded his own benchmarks. Now, though, the U.S. is unlikely to meet his target to have 70% of Americans at least partially vaccinated by July 4.
US fights ruling to extend SSI benefits to Puerto Rico
The federal government filed a brief late Monday to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing Congress has the authority to withhold Supplemental Security Income benefits from U.S. citizens depending on where they live even as President Joe Biden promised to extend those benefits to Puerto Rico.
Supreme Court agrees to hear 2nd ‘state secrets’ case
The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether a lawsuit can go forward in which a group of Muslim residents of California allege the FBI targeted them for surveillance because of their religion.
Free beer, other new incentives for Biden’s ‘vaccine sprint’
President Joe Biden is looking for that extra something — anything — that will get people to roll up their sleeves for COVID-19 shots when the promise of a life-saving vaccine by itself hasn’t been enough.
US jobless claims fall again as some states end federal aid
Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week — the latest encouraging sign for the rebounding U.S. economy — just as Republican-led states including Indiana are moving to cut off a federal benefit for the jobless.
Indiana among states suing Frontier for delivering slow internet
The Federal Trade Commission and six states including Indiana are suing Frontier Communications for not delivering the internet speeds it promised customers and charging them for better, more expensive service than they actually got.
Biden orders better access to legal services for poor, minorities
The president wrote in a memo that the pandemic “has further exposed and exacerbated inequities in our justice system” as legal services were curtailed. He added that the problems “have touched the lives of many persons in this country, particularly low-income people and people of color.”
Supreme Court throws abortion fight into center of midterms
In agreeing to hear a potentially groundbreaking abortion case, the Supreme Court has energized activists on both sides of the long-running debate who are now girding to make abortion access a major issue in next year’s midterm elections.
‘Ordered freedom’: AG Rokita sets agenda focused on ‘liberty’
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita recently sat down with Indiana Lawyer to answer questions about his first 100 days in office and his agenda for the next four years.