A significant law enforcement reform bill is headed to Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb for his signature. The bill largely bans chokeholds and adds several measures addressing police accountability.
Your publication recently printed an article discussing the Indiana State Bar Association’s objections to Indiana Senate Joint Resolution 16. The bar association’s complaint about SJR 16, and the slant of the article, is that the resolution proposes to “strip” Hoosier voters of the power to retain Indiana appellate court judges and Supreme Court justices. I do not believe that complaint is well-founded.
Despite a ruling in her favor from the Indiana Supreme Court capping her years-long quest to find out how the state of Indiana might carry out an execution, Washington, D.C., attorney Katherine Toomey was still waiting for answers two weeks later.
Compared to the battles surrounding voting bills in states such as Iowa and Georgia, the six bills that are moving through the Indiana General Assembly appear to be making rather mild tweaks to Hoosier election laws rather than attempting a controversial overhaul.
Although the Indiana General Assembly has unanimously supported a $1 pro bono surcharge tacked onto the state’s filing fee for civil cases since 2012, a bill that would have increased the amount to $3 did not get a committee hearing this session, raising alarm that the key funding stream for legal aid could run dry just as the need is growing.
Indiana officials have yet to describe any big plans for the influx of federal money expected from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that Congress approved this week.
Indiana lawmakers on Thursday listened to four hours of testimony on how the governor’s powers should — or should not — be restricted during public emergencies and whether or not the approach they are taking is constitutional.
A bipartisan bill aimed at increasing police accountability and enacting criminal justice reform advanced with unanimous support from a key Indiana Senate committee Tuesday.
In a year without an election, The Indiana Citizen, a nonprofit focused on increasing voter turnout, is transforming its website into a source of news and information about Hoosier politics, elected officials and civic issues that attorney co-founder Bill Moreau described as “our new venture into accountability journalism.”
Indiana lawmakers have advanced bills that would curb a governor’s authority to impose emergency restrictions such as mask rules and business closures, although Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and a former state Supreme Court justice, among others, question whether those proposals written by members of Holcomb’s own party are allowed under the state Constitution.
Indiana Capitol Police say they feel a special sense of pride and honor carrying out their duties of safeguarding the Indiana Statehouse and many other Circle City landmarks. They feel they are doing something especially important for fellow Hoosiers.
Under a bill in the Statehouse, a prosecutor who establishes a policy of not charging certain offenses would be considered “noncompliant.” But local prosecutors fear changes that would step on their prosecutorial discretion and give the attorney general, a statewide officeholder, a say over her local decisions.
I asked former three-term Indiana Attorney General Linley Pearson, if you were a younger person today, would you run for office? He didn’t hesitate. “There’s no question today I could not be in politics,” he said. “It’s just totally changed, and it’s not very attractive to me. … If you want to exaggerate or malign a person, you could always do that, but do you want to do that?”
As Indiana lawmakers prepare for the second half of the session, several key issues are awaiting further review.
The Indiana Supreme Court has evenly split in a long-running dispute over disclosure of records concerning the state’s lethal injection drugs, clearing the way for disclosure of the records and the payment by the state of more than a half-million dollars in legal fees.
A bill to add a court in Hamilton County and judicial officers elsewhere has passed the Indiana Senate, as has a measure to allow city and town courts to keep certain administrative fees. A measure to revoke a county court, however, is drawing pushback.
The Indiana Senate passed a bill Wednesday that could save the state nearly $1 million in federal funding by prohibiting juveniles charged with crimes from being held in adult jails.
Two Indiana trial courts must reconsider parents’ requests to change their children’s birth certificate gender markers, a majority of the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, finding parents have statutory authority to request the changes for their minor transgender children. A dissenting judge, however, opined that Wednesday’s decision was a judicial overreach into legislative powers.
The Indiana Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would put a 60-day limit on emergency orders issued by the governor unless the Legislature weighs in. The proposal is substantially different from a bill restricting the governor’s emergency powers that previously passed the House.
Indiana senators advanced a measure Tuesday that would allow police to determine what use of force is reasonable in some cases. The bill is now headed to the House.