Judge Pratt makes history in move to federal bench
With approval from the U.S. Senate, Marion Superior Judge Tanya Walton Pratt is ready to make a historic move to the state’s
federal court system.
With approval from the U.S. Senate, Marion Superior Judge Tanya Walton Pratt is ready to make a historic move to the state’s
federal court system.
The newest judge for the Southern District of Indiana was sworn in Monday to officially become a U.S. District Judge.
The U.S. Senate plans to vote on a Marion Superior judge’s nomination for the federal bench on Tuesday, according to
a spokesman in Sen. Evan’s Bayh’s office. Senators agreed Thursday to consider the nomination of Marion Superior
Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, whom the president chose in January for the Southern District of Indiana to succeed Judge David
F. Hamilton. Judge Hamilton was elevated to the federal appeals bench late last year.
The Indiana Supreme Court has set the stage for a judicial disciplinary action against a Marion County Traffic Court judge
for his courtroom conduct on a speeding and suspended license case last year.
Indiana counties are responsible to pay a portion of costs to operate juvenile detention facilities.
Detention alternatives, Initial Hearing Court draw national praise.
Indiana lags in statewide reform, but builds on localized successes.
Local successes exist; systematic changes lag.
Two former Marion County deputy prosecutors have received public reprimands from the state’s highest court for drunken
driving incidents.
Addressing an issue that’s divided the state’s intermediate appeals judges, the Indiana Supreme Court has held
that review under Appellate Rule 7 may include consideration of a person’s total penal consequences within a trial court
sentence.
Sometimes a seemingly small gesture can turn into something bigger. Or at least that’s the thinking with various so-called pipeline programs aimed at high school and college students with a goal of increasing diversity in the legal field.
Brian Kendrick was convicted and sentenced for the 2008 shooting of Indianapolis bank teller Katherin Shuffield, who was nearly
six months pregnant with twins at the time.
The Indiana Court of Appeals judges agreed that a mother may possibly be liable for her daughter’s accident in which
she struck a pedestrian with her car after drinking and talking on her cell phone at the time of the accident. The judges
didn’t completely agree as to why the mother may be liable.
The Indiana Supreme Court has publicly reprimanded an Indianapolis attorney who responded to harassing phone calls and pre-recorded
messages to her unlisted phone number by asking a company representative if he was “gay” or “sweet.”
A Shelby Superior judge will preside over a forgery investigation case involving Marion County GOP Chairman Tom John, after
the presiding judge in the state’s largest county recused himself from the matter.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department likely will have to return more than $273,000 in cash seized as part of a
racketeering investigation after the Marion County Prosecutor's Office missed a civil forfeiture deadline.
U.S. Attorney Timothy M. Morrison in the Southern District of Indiana
gave Cumberland Police Officer Jimmy Laws the 2010 United States Attorney’s Carol S. Morris Award for Outstanding Contributions
to the Rights of Victims on May 5.
The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission brings charges against attorneys who have violated the state’s
rules for admission to the bar and Rules of Professional Conduct.
Foreclosure rates have remained at record highs for Indiana the past few years, and a court program to help homeowners hasn’t
been as successful as hoped. That’s now changing.