For the second time this year, the Indiana State Bar Association is publicly opposing legislation targeting judicial selection in Indiana, this time speaking against a bill that it says would “unnecessarily change a working system” for judicial selection in Lake and St. Joseph counties.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Monday issued an order appointing Miller, now a senior judge, back to the court she attempted to retire from last year. The order authorizes Miller to serve as a St. Joseph Superior Court judge until May 1 as a fight over her potential successor plays out in another court.
By initiating a constitutional amendment based on misinformation, three Indiana Republican state senators, now joined by multiple others, have proposed a radical resolution to eliminate citizen involvement in the retention vote of appellate judges, changing the current selection process that has been in place for 50 years. This proposal also severely decreases judicial independence and increases the political pressure on our state’s appellate judiciary. Indeed, if successful, the proposal would give the legislative branch far greater control over the Indiana state appellate judges and justices. It would also further embed in Indiana’s Constitution more systemic racism.
For more than 100 years, the principle that if a policy term is ambiguous it is construed against the insurer and in favor of the policyholder and coverage — known as “contra proferentem”—has been a foundation of Indiana’s insurance-coverage jurisprudence. The reasons supporting this rule are still as strong as ever.
A man who broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home and shot the woman and her daughter will have his aggravated battery conviction and related sentence vacated on double jeopardy grounds. Like others before it, the case raised questions about the application of the Indiana Supreme Court’s new substantive double jeopardy analyses.
A trial court order denying judgment to an Indianapolis restaurant sued for negligence has been reinstated, with the Indiana Supreme Court finding no reason to allow the restaurant’s forfeited appeal of the order to proceed.
An order requiring a confidential informant to sit down for a face-to-face interview with defense counsel will be reviewed by Indiana’s highest court after justices granted transfer to the Marion County case.
The Indiana Supreme Court has opened applications for the 2021 Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity program serving student groups that are traditionally underrepresented in law school.
For the third time, the case regarding the forfeiture of a Marion man’s Land Rover went back before the Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday. Justices were asked once again to allow the state to forfeit the vehicle that Tyson Timbs was driving in 2013 when he was arrested for drug dealing.
Two Hoosier lawyers have been indefinitely suspended from the practice of law for failure to cooperate with investigations of ethics grievances against them.
Efforts to amend a bill that would fundamentally change the composition of the judicial nominating commissions in Lake and St. Joseph counties failed in the Indiana House on Tuesday, setting up the controversial legislation for a possible final House vote next week.
The Indiana Supreme Court is now accepting applications for a new disciplinary commission executive director as the current director prepares to retire and take senior judge status.
An Indiana senior judge has been named to lead the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission on an interim basis, temporarily replacing executive director G. Michael Witte, who is retiring Friday.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has certified two questions to Indiana’s Supreme Court justices in a Wednesday opinion, asking for clarification in a Medical Malpractice Act dispute.
Lifting an injunction issued by a federal court, a divided panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ruled that a Nativity scene on the grounds of the Jackson County Courthouse in Brownstown is not unconstitutional under a 2019 case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The former Johnson County prosecutor who was convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend and attempting to cover up his crime was suspended from the practice of law for four years Wednesday without automatic reinstatement.
After 39 years, G. Michael Witte, executive director of the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission, is calling it a career — sort of.
To capitalize on the talks that started during 2020, attorney Angka Hinshaw is joining Indiana Justice Steven David to lead a yearlong discussion about racial issues and cultural differences. The goal of the program, Open Conversations, is to foster honest, perhaps uncomfortable, dialogue where the participants can gain new insight and understanding.
Civil forfeiture is back before the judicial and the legislative branches of Indiana government. A Senate bill would implement forfeiture reforms that practitioners say have long been necessary, while a case scheduled to go before the Indiana Supreme Court this month for the third time could further refine how trial courts consider whether a forfeiture is lawful.
Read Indiana appellate court decisions from the most recent reporting period.