Legislation that would eliminate attorney input and increase the role of the governor and county officials in appointing commission members who nominate candidates for the trial court benches in Lake and St. Joseph counties continues to advance in the Indiana General Assembly despite vocal opposition from lawyers, judges and bar associations.
A bill extending full faith and credit to certain tribal court orders in Indiana is one step closer to the governor’s desk after the Senate this week gave its unanimous endorsement to the legislation. The bill now heads back to the House to consider an amendment that the bill’s author has already said he supports.
A bill that would change how superior court judges are nominated in Lake and St. Joseph counties was uniformly opposed by lawyers and judges from those counties in a Senate hearing Wednesday but narrowly advanced on a 5-4 vote.
Legislation that has drawn fire from bar associations and members of the legal community who say proposed changes to judicial appointments would politicize the trial court benches in Lake and St. Joseph counties will be heard Wednesday by a Senate committee.
A 14-year-old boy was charged with murder and child molestation Monday in the asphyxiation death of a 6-year-old girl in northern Indiana, prosecutors said.
A man fleeing police in northern Indiana was shot after encountering an armed homeowner, authorities said. The man survived after he was treated at a hospital.
The undeniable truth is that there is a long legislative history in this nation of powerful majorities diminishing and silencing the voices of minorities. While I have no reason to believe the motive of the current judicial selection legislation for Lake and St. Joseph counties is racial, this law will undoubtedly have a disproportionally negative effect on citizens who happen to be racial minorities.
Hoosiers aged 55-59 are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, according to an update posted Tuesday morning on the Indiana State Department of Health’s vaccine information and registration site.
As litigation and legislation that could change the structure of judicial selection in St. Joseph County proceeds, the St. Joseph County Judicial Nominating Commission is accepting applications to fill a vacancy that will occur in the spring.
The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus is calling for lawmaker reprimands, implicit bias training and member safety measures in response to a heated Indiana House session last week that featured allegations of racism, on-the-floor boos and lawmaker confrontations in the halls and a restroom.
Gov. Eric Holcomb has been presented a second time with the same slate of nominees to fill a vacancy on the St. Joseph Superior Court, potentially curing an injunction that had blocked the governor’s appointment after a local commission member sued, claiming two fellow members were ineligible.
Tempers flared among Indiana legislators during a debate Thursday when Black lawmakers were shouted down and booed by some Republicans and two House members had to be separated in a hallway.
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.
A request by grandparents to adopt a grandson found to be a child in need of services was properly denied, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, upholding a trial court’s determination that adoption was not in the child’s best interests.
A bill in the Legislature would restructure the composition of judicial nominating commissions in Lake and St. Joseph counties. Currently, an even number of attorneys and nonattorney members are appointed by local stakeholders, but the proposal would reduce attorney representation, which has prompted a backlash in the northern Indiana legal communities.
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.
Legal professionals in Lake and St. Joseph counties are raising serious concerns about advancing legislation that would change the structure of the local judicial nominating commissions that shape the state trial court judiciary in the northern Indiana counties.
Condominium owners in a South Bend complex that they allege was shoddily constructed may pursue their claims against the insolvent developer, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled, reversing the dismissal of the condo owners’ claims.
As Indiana’s commercial court program expands, the Indiana Supreme Court is implementing new rules to govern the appointment of judges to the specialized dockets.