Indianapolis pays $650K to family of slain unarmed black man
The city of Indianapolis has agreed to pay $650,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed black man fatally shot last year by police officers during a traffic stop.
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Vote on Indiana federal judicial nominees held over
The nominees for the Northern and Southern Indiana district courts will have to wait at least another week before they receive a vote from the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. The committee unanimously agreed Thursday to hold over a host of nominees to the federal bench, including Holly Brady and James Patrick Hanlon, nominees for the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts, respectively.
Potential Manafort jurors could be asked about IRS, Ukraine
Prosecutors in special counsel Robert Mueller’s office want to ask potential jurors at the upcoming trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort about their views of the IRS and Ukraine, among other topics. Prosecutors submitted a request Thursday to use a 20-page jury questionnaire at the trial scheduled for next month in Alexandria, Virginia.
Decatur Township getting box for safely surrendering babies
The southwest side of Indianapolis is getting its first baby box where people may anonymously surrender a healthy newborn without fear of criminal prosecution. The box announced Thursday is going in at the Decatur Township Fire Department. The padded, climate-controlled box notifies authorities when it’s been used.
Holcomb praises Supreme Court’s online sales tax ruling
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is praising a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says states can force online shoppers to pay sales tax. The 5-4 decision Thursday overturns earlier rulings, which determined companies shipping products to states where they didn’t have a physical presence weren’t obligated to collect the states’ sales tax.
Results of DCS outside assessment to be released Monday
Key findings from an outside assessment of Indiana’s Department of Child Services will be released Monday, when representatives from the Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group will present the results of the assessment requested by Gov. Eric Holcomb. Holcomb asked for the DCS study after former director Mary Beth Bonaventura abruptly resigned, accusing Holcomb of cutting funds and putting children’s lives at risk.
Kentucky man sentenced to 30 days for assault on congressman
A Kentucky man who had “had enough” of his congressman neighbor edging too close to his yard has been sentenced to 30 days in prison after he ran onto Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s property and tackled him. Rene A. Boucher, 60, after he assaulted Paul on Nov. 3, 2017.
Indiana Senate leader Long joins Ice Miller
In advance of his retirement from the Indiana Statehouse in November, Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, will be joining Ice Miller LLP as a partner today. Long, who has a law office in Fort Wayne and serves as general counsel for Pizza Hut, will practice in the firm’s Public Affairs Group.
Mueller worries Russia could use court case to spy on probe
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is worried that Russian intelligence services will use a criminal case in Washington, D.C., to gather information about its investigation and U.S. intelligence-gathering methods. In court papers filed Tuesday, prosecutors asked a federal judge in D.C. to impose limits on the information that can be shared by attorneys in the first criminal case directly related to Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
In Fort Wayne, Sessions cites Bible to defend separating immigrant families
Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited the Bible on Thursday in defense of a border policy that has resulted in hundreds of immigrant children being separated from their parents after they enter the U.S. illegally. Sessions, speaking in Fort Wayne on immigration, pushed back against criticism he has received over the policy.
School accepts teacher’s resignation over transgender policy
A central Indiana school district has officially accepted the resignation of a teacher who disagreed with a policy compelling teachers to address transgender students by their preferred name rather than their birth name.
AG Hill praises DOJ decision not to defend Obamacare in federal suit
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is commending the U.S. Department of Justice’s announcement that it will refrain from defending significant portions of the Affordable Care Act in court, saying the move shows the strength of a 20-state lawsuit challenging the controversial individual mandate.
Trump, Kim shake hands, commit to ‘complete denuclearization’
Clasping hands and forecasting future peace, President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un committed Tuesday to “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula during the first meeting in history between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. Yet as Trump toasted the summit’s results, he faced mounting questions about whether he got too little and gave away too much — including an agreement to halt U.S. military exercises with treaty ally South Korea.
Court sees ‘high likelihood’ that Indiana’s voting law violates federal act
Three public advocacy groups have temporarily stopped the enforcement of Indiana’s 2017 voter registration law, which could potentially purge eligible voters from the rolls without providing them written notice. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the state from implementing the 2017 version of Senate Enrolled Act 442.
Dozens arrested outside Indianapolis home of HHS chief Azar
Police say 26 demonstrators, some in wheelchairs, were arrested Sunday for trespassing outside the Indianapolis home of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
Ex-Navy SEAL author’s legal malpractice claim proceeds
A former Navy SEAL who claims he was forced to forfeit to the government more than $6 million in proceeds from his best-selling book about the capture of Osama bin Laden may proceed with a legal malpractice lawsuit against a Fort Wayne lawyer. The author of “No Easy Day” alleges bad legal advice about not needing to first clear the book with the Department of Defense caused the loss.
Horse Racing Commission must pay horsemen $56K in legal fees
A judge has ordered the state agency that regulates horse racing to pay the legal fees of an owner who successfully challenged an administrative rule restricting racehorses’ ability to compete outside Indiana. Judge William T. Lawrence of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Monday ordered the Indiana Horse Racing Commission to pay $56,365 in attorney fees and costs to plaintiffs who won a ruling last year overturning a commission regulation.
Indiana getting 8 additional federal prosecutors
Eight prosecutors will be added to U.S. attorney’s offices in the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana, those offices announced Tuesday. The new positions are part of the largest nationwide boost of federal law enforcement attorneys in decades.
Trump says he has ‘absolute right’ to pardon himself
President Donald Trump asserted his presidential power and escalated his efforts to discredit the special counsel Russia probe on Monday, declaring he has the “absolute right” to pardon himself and attacking the investigation as “totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL!”
Marion County seeks needle exchange amid hepatitis C surge
A public health emergency has been declared in Marion County amid surging hepatitis C cases in Indianapolis that officials hope to combat with a needle-exchange. The county’s health department director declared the health emergency Thursday amid a 1,000 percent increase in hepatitis C between 2013 and 2017.