Articles

7th Circuit holds lawyer rule on impact of guilty plea for immigrants not retroactive

A three-judge panel for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has determined a landmark decision from the Supreme Court of the United States last year isn't retroactive. That rule required criminal defense attorneys to advise clients about the immigration impact of signing a guilty plea, and this means past cases wouldn’t benefit from that holding even if those individuals had been deprived of that Sixth Amendment right.

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SCOTUS asked to hear stun-belt case

When the Supreme Court of the United States returns for its new term beginning in October, Indiana will likely learn whether the high court will hear a case relating to a stun-belt restraint used here during a convicted murder’s trial.

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7th Circuit sends Corcoran case back to trial court

Following a remand from the United States Supreme Court in late 2010, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals admitted it made mistakes in its recent decision involving a convicted murderer’s appeal and sent the case to the District Court to address habeas relief claims.

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Views shift on use of executions

What if 1976 hadn’t played out the way it did, and some of the jurists on the U.S. Supreme Court had held the view of capital punishment at that juncture that they did at the end of their judicial careers? The death penalty may never have been reinstated.

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Tax Court warns against arguing wages aren’t taxable

In rejecting a man’s argument that his employment wages shouldn’t be subject to Indiana’s adjusted gross income tax, the Indiana Tax Court warned that those who present a similar argument in the future may be subject to paying the attorney fees of the other party.

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7th Circuit addresses sex offender registration law

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has joined a majority of other circuits nationwide in finding that the federal sex offender registration law is not a retroactive punishment on those who were convicted prior to 2006 and traveled after the law was enacted.

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SCOTUS denies Indiana judicial canons case

The Supreme Court of the United States has refused to take a case asking whether Indiana’s judicial canons constitutionally infringe on the free speech rights of those on or vying for seats on the bench.

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Federalist Society to host national ethics expert for lecture

Edward Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., will lecture about “Lessons of the Sotomayor and Kagan Confirmation Processes: The Political Triumph of Judicial Conservatism,” from noon to 2 p.m. April 14. The lecture, hosted by the Indianapolis chapter of The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, will be at the Conrad hotel, 50 W. Washington St., Indianapolis.

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SCOTUS asked to take Indiana stun belt case

The Supreme Court of the United States is being asked to consider an Indiana case about a convicted murderer’s claim that he was improperly restrained with a stun belt during his trial and that led to a wrongful conviction.

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SCOTUS denies one Indiana case, sidesteps others for now

The Supreme Court of the United States denied one prisoner lawsuit from Indiana today, while not saying whether it will address another case from this state on judicial speech. No decision was made on a third Hoosier case it heard arguments on more than a month ago addressing vehicular flight.

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