A man who used the sovereign citizen tactic of filing phony liens against multiple Indiana federal judges lost his appeal Monday. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Brent A. Swallers' conviction of filing a false lien and encumbrance against a federal judge
A woman's appeal of her federal guilty plea in a murder-for-hire case targeting a Noblesville attorney was dismissed by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in a case the panel said resembled “the plot of a mediocre novel.”
A Detroit drug dealer who orchestrated the Indianapolis kidnapping of the minor brother and sister of a stripper who stole from him will spend the rest of his life in prison, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Thursday.
A federal lawsuit against the Indianapolis police chief will continue after a district court judge declined to abstain from hearing the case alleging a local ordinance restricting panhandling is unconstitutional.
As the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky marked yet another legal victory in a challenge to an Indiana abortion law, the leaders of the organizations say they hope state lawmakers will begin to see what they say is the futility of the annual passage of abortion-restricting legislation.
A 2016 law requiring Indiana women who choose to have an abortion to first view an ultrasound of the fetus at least 18 hours in advance was struck down Wednesday by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Marion County voters will be able to vote in one of six satellite voting locations in the 2018 general election, officials announced Wednesday in response to a federal court order. A consent decree entered earlier this month required the county to establish at least five early-voting locations.
More than 18 years ago, an attorney with a photography hobby took a photo of the Indianapolis skyline that would later become the subject of dozens of copyright infringement lawsuits he filed against defendants across the country. One of those cases came to trial Tuesday in a contentious, seven-hour hearing that also put the photo itself on trial.
When the White House nominated Hoosier Damon Leichty to a federal district judgeship, it was the second time the Trump Administration has chosen an attorney working at Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Indiana to fill a judicial vacancy.
A federal judge is weighing whether to grant a preliminary injunction to allow an Evansville transgender student to use male bathrooms.
A motorist injured when his vehicle was struck by a semi-truck whose driver was distracted by a dropped cellphone was awarded a $500,000 damages verdict in federal court in Evansville last week. Magistrate Judge Matthew Brookman entered judgment in favor of motorist Michael J. Smith and his wife, Marcia Smith, and against defendants Gregory Peterson and Triple B Trucking.
A sheriff’s department in southern Indiana has reached a tentative settlement with the father of a woman who died in detention.
Muncie’s former building commissioner has agreed to plead guilty to federal corruption charges. In an agreement filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, Craig Nichols pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and money laundering. Nichols faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.
Plaintiffs’ counsel who took selfies with inmates and acknowledged causing a “bit of a ruckus” during a jail inspection got handed a protective order as well as a sharp rebuke from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Damon R. Leichty, partner in the South Bend office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, has been nominated to serve as a judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, potentially filling the last empty seat in the federal judiciary in Indiana. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Leichty will fill the vacancy created when Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr., took senior status in January 2016.
The Marion County Election Board has agreed to open five additional satellite locations for early in-person voting starting with the 2018 general election, settling a lawsuit brought in 2017 by Common Cause Indiana and the NAACP. Senior judge Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana signed on Tuesday a consent decree offered by the plaintiffs and defendants.
A Fourth Amendment excessive force claim against an Indianapolis police officer will continue after a federal judge denied the officer’s motion for summary judgment on Tuesday. The SWAT officer is accused of assaulting a suspected drug dealer in his home after executing a no-knock warrant.
The estate of a woman who was confined to a hospital bed and harassed by her landlord won a major victory last week in federal court that provided some rare Indiana case law on housing discrimination and, according to a fair housing advocate, will impact Hoosiers for years to come.
A federal judge on Monday sentenced Steven Ganote, a key player in the massive American Senior Communities overbilling and and kickback scheme, to five years in prison and ordered him to pay $7 million in restitution. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt also doled out punishment to Joshua Burkhart, sentencing him to four months in prison and ordering him to pay $420,000 in restitution for his role in the scheme.
For the third consecutive year, an Indiana law that would have raised restrictions on abortion rights was blocked by a federal judge. Abortion rights supporters say they expect more such attempts in the future, while the continuity of those federal rights has suddenly become an open question.