Articles

Justices consider cellphone data in 4th Amendment case

Is the act of turning on a cellphone a voluntary agreement to share that data, or do consumers have a right to privacy of the location information collected from their personal devices? The justices of the Indiana Supreme Court heard legal arguments on both sides of that issue during oral arguments in a case on Dec. 8.

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Justices weigh cellphone data privacy rights in 4th Amendment case

When people turn on their cellphones, they have a general understanding that some data regarding their whereabouts will be collected. But if a person does not know the extent to which that data is collected, then can the court say that such data was voluntarily released by the person, or is there an expected right to privacy?

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Justices deny transfer of CHINS ADA case with 3-2 vote

The Indiana Supreme Court has denied transfer of a case in which a father argued that the Department of Child Services’ failure to comply with the American with Disabilities Act when providing discretionary services should void the termination of his parental rights. However, two justices dissented from that decision, writing that DCS should always be required to comply with the ADA.

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Justices consider transfer in chemical breath test case

Indiana’s rules regarding chemical breath tests can be read as a recipe, with each rule laid out for the process of testing someone’s blood alcohol content meant to be followed sequentially, said the attorney for a woman challenging her misdemeanor drunken-driving charges.

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New law creates murkiness on private university police records

The Indiana Supreme Court left no doubt that it considered the Notre Dame Police Department exempt from the Access to Public Records Act when it affirmed dismissal of ESPN’s lawsuit seeking records of the department’s interactions with 275 student athletes. But a bill signed into law this year dealing with access to police body cameras could change that.

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Justices dismiss ESPN suit, find Notre Dame police not public agency

Notre Dame Police are not a public agency, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, turning back a lawsuit from ESPN that sought records of the university police’s interactions with student athletes. The ruling means Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act does not apply to university police at private institutions.

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Justices weigh whether child abuse reporter can sue DCS for breach of confidentiality

A southern Indiana church van driver who suspected children to be in need of services due to dangerous living conditions in his small community followed the law requiring him to report his suspicions. He didn’t want to provide his name, but he did so after a Department of Child Services hotline worker assured him his identity would remain confidential, as the law also requires.

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Supreme Court grants transfer in cellphone data privacy case

After an Ohio man’s convictions of armed robbery in Dearborn County were overturned by a divided Indiana Court of Appeals in August, the Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to hear the state’s appeal and decide if cellphone users have a reasonable expectation to the privacy of their tracked location information.

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Courts open comment period on online records access plan

Trial court orders and judgments in most non-confidential civil and criminal cases will be posted and universally available online, but attorneys and parties to cases initially will have far greater access to filings than the public, according to recommendations now open for public comment.

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