Indiana Blog Review

Partisan Judges

Advance Indiana:

Terre Haute attorney Jim Bopp's nationwide drive to force judicial candidates to announce their views on cases or issues likely to come before the courts in which they will sit in judgment took a step forward in Indiana.

Supreme Campaigning

Advance Indiana:

A part of the election ballot that gets little attention in advance of the election is the retention ballot for judges of the state Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Typically, the lack of attention to the retention ballot results in overwhelming votes to retain sitting judges. This year, however, Indiana Right to Life is mounting a campaign to unseat judges standing for retention. Not surprisingly, disinformation is being fed to voters in the process.

What About the Spouse Defense?

Bil Browning:

You might be wondering why I have a picture of a house advertising  [. . .] Katherine Densborne... Because of who lives in the house - S.K. Reid. That would be Marion County Superior Court Judge S.K. Reid. And judges aren't ethically supposed to engage in any partisan politics.

Country Justice

Advance Indiana isn't satisfied with the Jill Behrman verdict.

On Safety and Justice

E. Thomas Kemp comments on Child Protective Services in Indiana, the dilemma in the judiciary, and the plight of parents.

Alito Coats Tales

FWOb provides exclusive audio of remarks by Dan Coats on shepherding the nomination of Samuel Alito through the Senate.

The Lawyer Jamboree

Doug Masson files a lengthy and informative report from the "Continuing Legal Education seminar that attempts to provide an update in what has been going on in most areas of Indiana law."

Lawyers in Trouble

Frugal Hoosiers sees irony in the recent ruling against Fillenwarth, Dennerline, Groth and Towe.

Attorney General Opinions

Doug Masson summarizes two recently published opinions from the Attrney General on the state direct deposit requirement and the garnishee "defendant" fee.

Orders in the Court

RiShawn Biddle takes a look at the reorganization tussle within the Marion County Superior Court.

Star Protecting Employees

Two good posts updating the story about two ex-Indianapolis Star employees trying to sue the paper over religious discrimination.

TDW posted the briefs from each side in a motion for a protective order to seal the portions of former employees' depositions that allege the sexual orientation and HIV status of at least one Star staff member.

Advance Indiana provides exhaustive commentary on the case.

A Big Campground

Summit City O&E investigates sex offenders living in Hoosier campgrounds.

Judging Badly

Advance Indiana reports that Jim Bopp is moving closer to his goal of a politicized judiciary.

Jail Overcrowding

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz:

Is the City-Council President partially to blame for a child molester going free from jail?

TDW:

It seems a little absurd to throw money at people who are sitting in jail before their trials. Especially when the money will run out six months from now. There's a bipartisan group designated to deal with this problem, and Brizzi's part of it. Why doesn't he want to work with them to give his idea a little more meat?

Bopping More Judges

Advance Indiana:

Awhile back, AI reported on the efforts of the fundie's favorite lawyer in America, Terre Haute attorney Jim Bopp, to strike down a Kentucky judicial rule requiring judicial candidates to refrain from announcing their positions on public matters that might come before the court. We neglected to mention a similar lawsuit Bopp had already filed in the Northern District of Indiana on behalf of Indiana Right to Life seeking to declare a similar Indiana judicial conduct rule unconstitutional.

Even more

RiShawn Biddle has another case from the juvenile injustice files.

The New Laws

Over In The Agora, my colleague Josh Claybourn muses on Indiana and the growing trend of "stand your ground" laws.

And I celebrate our new fireworks law and show why they aren't so dangerous.  (As for Old Man Tully, well, maybe he can get them to mash some sleeping pills into the pudding at his nursing home.)

Judges

Advance Indiana:

Yesterday, Marion Co. GOP Chairman Mike Murphy and Marion Co. Democrat Chairman Ed Treacy, announced their picks to fill the 2 vacant judicial spots for the superior court. They are Lisa Borges, chief deputy in charge of trial prosecution in the Marion Co. prosecutor's office, and Steven Eichholtz, a former judge. The nominations were made necessary by a new law which added 3 new superior court spots for the county, from 17 to 20. Each party nominated 9 candidates in the May primary. The two new appointments bring that number to 10. All 20 candidates will win election in November unless by some stroke of luck a Libertarian candidate manages to pull an upset.

Disrespecting the Taxpayer

Scott Tibbs:

The City of Bloomington is in the process of considering the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), a comprehensive re-write of the city's zoning laws. The UDO is a sequel to the Growth Policies Plan passed a few years ago, actually putting many of the ideas of the GPP into law. I looked at the PDF documents on the city web site, and the ordinance currently has 280 pages. There are a few blank pages here and there as well as introductory pages and tables of contents, but overall this is a huge piece of legislation.

Whatever can be said about the specifics of this legislation, I think it is fundamentally dishonest to present such a massive piece of legislation before the people of Bloomington. Realistically, except for a few policy wonks and activists, very few people are going to sit down with this document and read the whole thing. The City Council is going to vote on the UDO and most of the citizens of Bloomington are going to have no idea what much of it says.

Major Payne

RiShawn Biddle recaps why the Indianapolis Star is demanding an explanation from Judge Payne for the miserable state of the juvenile justice system.

RiShawn also adds:

For those who simply want to blame the crisis in Indianapolis' -- and the state's -- juvenile justice system on just former Superior Court Judge (and juvenile justice overlord) Jim Payne, here's a reminder that more than one man is to blame for its systemic problems.

Start with the Marion County Superior Court, which allowed Payne to run the operations with little in the way of supervision. As Presiding Judge Cale Bradford admitted in an interview with the Star Editorial Board, there were few interactions between either Payne or his brethren on juvenile justice operations.

Confused?

Advance Indiana tries to untangle the Bryan Nicol snafu, "My conclusion is that everyone screwed up at least a little on this one."

It still doesn't make sense to me, but then again, I don't care.

Bopping Judges

Advance Indiana expands on recent news that Indiana State GOP National Committeeman Jim Bopp is chipping away at judicial independence in Kentucky.

Unsubmissive

stAllio! is looking for some legal opinions on a dominatrix. (SFW)

Parent Trap

E. Thomas Kemp explains two new laws that, "impact parents raising kids after a divorce or paternity determination," which take effect July 1st.

Courthouse Update

Tippecanoe Politics has the latest on the proposed closing of the federal courthouse in Lafayette, or, rather, the lack of a proposed closing.

Laying Down the Rules

Doug Masson summarizes the June edition of the Indiana Register.

Masson's Blog: Cheaper than Lexis-Nexis!

Hooray for Property Rights!

George Mason law Professor Ilya Somin posted some good news at the Volokh Conspiracy:

Although some forty states have either adopted or considered legislation to curb eminent domain power in the aftermath of [Kelo v. New London], Sandefur concludes that only five - "Indiana, South Dakota, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Florida" have enacted laws that actually provide "strong protections for property rights." Numerous other states have passed laws that purport to restrict eminent domain abuse but actually do little or nothing . . .

. . . Thus, only the Indiana and (to a lesser extent) Florida laws represent truly significant progress.

Litigious Libertarians

The Indiana Libertarian Party has joined a class action lawsuit against the NSA.  Mark Rutherford posts the press release.

Here Comes the Judge?

Doug Masson reprints an a letter from Lafayette attorney David Rosenthal, "urging opposition of the potential closure of the federal building in Lafayette which is the seat of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division at Lafayette as well as the United States Bankruptcy Court in Lafayette Indiana. "

Tippecanoe Politics says that Representative Buyer (R-04) isn't helping.

Order in the Courts

Doug Masson reports that the federal courthouses in Terre Haute and Lafayette might be shut down.  He thinks this is a bad idea.

Sex Offenders

Gov. Daniels recently signed SB 246, which toughens standards on the treatment of convicted sex offenders.  Kemp has further thoughts on one of legislators' favorite punching bags.

Great Fictions in Law

E. Thomas Kemp has a long exposition on the way our legal system works:

What are the Great Fictions? Well, despite the fact that we live in a high tech, age-of-science, modern society, over in the practice of criminal law, we follow the traditions of mystical thinking, superstition, and downright fraud. Yes, we all see the amazing feats accomplished by crime scene investigators on TV, using the scientific method to trap crooks, but that is not the general fare in the real world.

Instead of science, we rely on little shortcuts that get us to the result (a conviction) with less complication.

Judicial appointments

Doug at Masson's Blog has the story about possible changes in the way judicial nominations are made.  Also reporting are the Indiana Law Blog, Taking Down Words, and State Rep. Ryan Dvorak.

Two certificate of need ordinances struck down

Writes Doug at Masson's Blog:

In a previous post I discussed Perry County’s recent adoption of a “Certificate of Need” ordinance which prohibited construction of new medical facilities unless the builder obtained a “certificate of need” from the County.

Back in November, Judge Hamilton struck down a similar ordinance adopted by Morgan County. According to a story in the Perry County News, the Perry County commissioners were aware of the Morgan County case and proceeded to adopt the ordinance anyway, claiming that they had drafted the language of the ordinance more narrowly. As I explained in that previous post, there is no way the ordinance can be read as being permissible in light of Judge Hamilton’s ruling.

Yesterday, Judge Barker issued her opinion striking down similar ordinances in Clark and Floyd Counties. The reasoning of both Judges Hamilton and Barker is the same. Under Indiana’s Home Rule Act (IC 36-3-1), counties simply do not have this authority.

'Wrong-headed?'

Advance Indiana opines on a bill to criminalize protests at military funerals.

If the "funeral sanctity" bill becomes law, it will become a Class D felony to publicly demonstrate within 500 feet of a gravesite or funeral home.  ... Ironically, Sen. Steele's bill does nothing to address the source of the hate that is motivating these wackos to protest at these funerals. And what do we do if they start protesting at churches they view as being pro-homosexual, which they have already done, are we going to make that a Class D felony as well? ...

Advance Indiana does not in any way wish to diminish the despicable acts of these anti-gay bigoted Christians protesting at these funerals, but if the legislature is truly interested in addressing this issue, a hate crimes law is by far the more sensible approach. Steele's bill does nothing more than criminalize free speech--in a manner that would likely be held to be unconstitutional if ever challenged.

Doug at Masson's Blog adds:

I think Tracy Warner has it right in his post on free speech and funerals in response to Sen. Steele’s bill to criminalize disruptive speech near funerals.

Who should pay?

Tracy Warner asks who should pay for a cochlear implant for an Indiana inmate charged with murder while in prison?

Should taxpayers foot the bill, estimated at $60,000? If so, is it county or state government that is responsible?

Officials and back child support bills

Doug at Masson's Blog has an interesting post about the background behind a bill introduced in the Indiana House that would remove elected officials from office if their unpaid child support bill grows too large.

Representative Dvorak has introduced HB 1104 which requires a state or local government officeholder who is subject to a judgment of at least $15,000 for delinquent child support to be removed from office.

It's always interesting when you can trace a piece of legislation back to a particular incident. This one appears to arise out of the story reported here by WNDU. In November, Roseland City Councilman David Snyder was found in contempt by a judge for violation of a child support order.

ACLU vs. domestic violence victims?

From Marla R. Stevens at Bilerico.com:

The ACLU filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in the combined case of Davis v. Washington and Hammon v. Indiana, cases dealing with whether domestic violence laws and practices that provide for prosecution of abusers based on victims' statements to police and on 911 tapes proximal to the abuse (that the courts are not disputing to be reliable) when the victims cannot or will not testify in court can be upheld.

What it boils down to is that the ACLU -- no doubt in the form of the I[ndiana]CLU or at least with a surfeit of their board's typically shortsighted and overly conservative legal reasoning -- is filing a brief to undercut domestic violence law, claiming that these statements should be judged under the same standard as other ex parte statements (less reliable and more subject to coercion) despite that there's been zero evidence that they are anything but the most reliable, least coerced statements from domestic violence victims -- victims whose statements have been proven to become, in the aggregate when the victims are not available to testify, less reliable over time, not more reliable due to the actually coercive agents at play here: the abusers.

BK attorneys 'out of business?'

E. Thomas Kemp at Kemplog writes:

Through the newly minted Wall Street Journal Law Blog, a report on the crisis facing many attorneys whose primary field of practice was personal bankruptcies.  After the change in the bankruptcy law last fall, many potential filers are staying away, the attorneys are faced with a morass of new regulations to digest and incorporate, and to top it off, the new law holds attorneys personally responsible for mistakes.

Say a little prayer

Legislators gathered to say a prayer before the start of the Indiana House of Representatives session.

Advance Indiana comments:

Avoiding an outright defiance of Judge David Hamilton’s court order that the House refrain from allowing clergy to deliver sectarian prayers during the opening invocation, Speaker Bosma nonetheless chose to flip the finger at Hamilton. In lieu of the formal invocation, Bosma and about 20 other legislators gathered “voluntarily and informally” at the back of the chamber of the House prior to the call to order to pray in accordance with their own beliefs without “censorship” or without “coercion.”

Masson's Blog reports:

According to an article in the Indy Star the Indiana House has complied with the court's order regarding prayer. Rather than making their prayer part of the official business of the General Assembly, some of the lawmakers got together in a corner to pray. Meanwhile some folks decided to make a spectacle of themselves by chanting "Jesus" in the rotunda.

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz at Indiana Barrister writes:

Speaker Brian Bosma told the chamber the informal prayer meets with the spirit and letter of a federal ruling banning specific references to Christ or other deities. Bosma said because the prayer was done before session, by an informal group of lawmakers and in the back of the room, they kept with Judge David hamilton's order. By the way, Christ was mentioned between 3-5 times for those of you counting. He said the informal prayers will continue throughout the session.

Too hard on sex offenders?

Are we too hard on sex offenders?  Torpor Indy asks the question in response to legislation introduced in the Indiana legislature that would require offenders to wear GPS tracking systems.

Now, this will be controversial, but am I the only one who thinks we go a little too far with sex offenders? Sex offender registries? GPS tracking? lifelong monitoring? I do not think I have to say that I abhor sexual abuse, but sex offenders are still required to register even after they have served their sentences and completed their parole.

A funnier Supreme Court

In the Agora reports that Supreme Court observers find that Supreme Court is becoming funnier under Chief Justice John Roberts.

Prof. Jay D. Wexler of Boston University has published research concluding that the funniest justice on the United State Supreme Court is Antonin Scalia. Wexler's work is summarized in a New York Times article titled "So, Guy Walks Up to the Bar, and Scalia Says..." The article begins:

Justice Antonin Scalia's wit is widely admired, and now it has been quantified. He is, a new study concludes, 19 times as funny as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. ...

The article notes that laughter has increased under Chief Justice Roberts: "The mood under Chief Justice Roberts has brightened, the analysis found, with the average number of justice-generated laughs per argument rising to 2.9 from 2.6 the previous term."

No 'Grand Theft Auto' for those under 18

State Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville, is jumping on the ban violent video games bandwagon that has so often been derailed by the judiciary.  She plans to introduce a bill that would bar stores from selling or renting games rated "M" to anyone 17-years-old or younger.

Writes Taking Down Words:

Knock yerselves out.

For what it's worth, violent video game ordinances and laws haven't met with much success in Indiana or across the nation. That's because the video game industry has a cadre of high-powered, pricy lawyers who love to invoke that pesky First Amendment to overturn legislation. ...

It merits noting that Indiana's law, in the event it makes its way through the legislative process in a short session likely to be dominated by other issues, would wind up in front of the Seventh Circuit, which threw out Indy's violent video game ordinance. The target of this legislation is different, but the court has shown its allegiance to an interpretation of the First Amendment that does not support such restrictions.

A libertarian's thoughts on SB4

Mike Sylvester at Fort Wayne Libertarian holds true to the notion that we need less government interference.  SB4 introduced in the Senate would allow pharmacists to choose not to dispense birth control or abortion-causing medicines.

I understand that some pharmacists have religious convictions that may cause them to believe that abortion and birth control are wrong. We all have our own opinions and I respect other people’s opinions.

Pharmacists should dispense the drugs and devices that are prescribed by Doctors. That is the job of a pharmacist, PERIOD.

Appeals case highlights sad story

Tracy Warner comments on an Indiana appeals court case that highlights the reality of life for some in our state's urban areas. It also dispels the media's usually glamorous depiction of prostitution.

The legal issue in question concerned hearsay evidence. But the sadly interesting portion of the ruling, describing the crime, shows what degrading activity people will do for almost no money:

Officer Gerardot asked (the woman) if she was going to perform oral sex on him for ten bucks, and she agreed.

Hopefully, this woman will get into another line of work.

Right to View

Leo Morris writes about proposed legislation, SB 160, that would give family members of victims the right to view executions.

Under current law, relatives of the person being executed can view the execution, but family members of the victims can't. Wyss' bill would reduce from 10 to five the number of friends or relatives of the convicted person who may attend and allow up to "eight adult members of the immediate family of the victim to be present at an execution."

Leo Morris provides some updates:

UPDATE: Doug of Masson's Blog points out that Sen. Waterman already has a right-to-view bill (S.B. 122). Looks like it leaves the number of condemned's friends and family at 10 and would allow only one relative of the victim. I like Wyss' numbers more.

UPDATE 2: Doug doesn't oppose the right-to-view effort but doesn't think it's as important as I do. The comment responding to him is from me.

Changes in store for Rules of Evidence?

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz at Indiana Barrister reports that Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi wants to change the Indiana Rules of Evidence to make prosecuting domestic violence cases easier.

Brizzi says he wants lawmakers to change the rules so that "prior inconsistent statements" can be used in court for substantive purposes. A prior inconsistent statement is a statement made by a witness that contradicts a later statement. Currently such statements can not be used to determine the innocence or guilt of a defendant, but only to impeach their testimony (in other words show they are not believable.)

BK CYA

The new bankruptcy law has attorneys and the public scrambling to figure out how to practice in a new legal environment. Marcia Oddi at Indiana Law Blog found an Indiana website designed to help bankruptcy attorneys "CYA."

The Indianapolis Star business columnist John Ketzenberger today awards the first annual Ketzies to "The best, the oddest in business this year." Included is:

Best new company name: Bankruptcycya.com helps lawyers cover their butts under the new bankruptcy law. It's the brainchild of bankruptcy attorney Mark Zuckerberg.

You have the right ...

What good is a law if you don't understand how it works. Advance Indiana explains what the new Indy Human Rights Ordinance means for the people of Indianapolis and Marion County.

Advance Indiana editor Gary R. Welsh, who practices employment law, has prepared the following summary of the protections afforded by Indianapolis’ new Human Rights Ordinance with respect to “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to assist you in understanding your rights under this new law.

Will 'corporate manslaughter' bill survive?

Businesses that violate labor laws that results in an employee death would be prosecuted under legislation proposed by a Highland Democrat, reports Masson's Blog.

My guess is that this article is more or less the last we'll hear of this bill this session. With the Republicans in control of the House, pro-labor legislation is unlikely to get a hearing, let alone passage. And then, even if by some miracle it passed the House, it would go where all good labor laws go to die: Senator Harrison's labor committee.

Sen. Lugar supports hate crime law

Sen. Richard Lugar sent an email to Advance Indiana's editor announcing his support of pending hate crimes legislation in the Senate.

Lugar bases his support for the hate crimes legislation on his experience as mayor of Indianapolis. Lugar wrote: “As Mayor of Indianapolis in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, I oversaw a big city police department that had to deal with many crimes and incidents involving hatred and discrimination ...”

With Lugar’s solid support for the legislation and Sen. Evan Bayh’s support as a co-sponsor of the legislation, the Christian right’s big money and menacing political threats have struck a dry hole in Indiana. Let’s hope that Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi’s proposed state hate crimes legislation receives more sympathetic ears from Indiana lawmakers than it has in the past.

If it was your daughter ...

Leo Morris discusses the permanent suspension of Elkhart Superior Court Judge L. Benjamin Pfaff from the bench after he pulled a gun on his daughter's boyfriend.

Pfaff is also suspended from practicing law until he pays court costs of about $12,000, reports the Indianapolis Star. A special prosecutor declined to prosecute finding Pfaff's actions could “legitimately be classified as a reasonable defensive move.”

Writes Morris:

(Y)ou've got to have some sympathy for someone driven around the bend by a runaway daughter. Wonder how she feels now?

Privacy vs. protection

The Indiana Law Blog points us to a link where oral arguments in the appeals case, Planned Parenthood vs. Steve Carter, et al., are available.

The issue: Does Planned Parenthood have to turn over medical records for Medicaid receipients under age 14?  State law regards sex with anyone under 14-years-old to be abuse and the state argues it has an interesting in protecting children. Planned Parenthood is concerned about privacy issues for its patients.

ILB quotes an Indy Star story explaining the case:

The group's bid to stop the seizures -- the Medicaid unit has sought more than 80 records -- was rejected by Marion Superior Court Judge Kenneth H. Johnson. He found that the seizures were permissible, ruling that society has an overriding interest in protecting children. The plaintiffs were then granted a stay by the Court of Appeals pending that panel's review of Johnson's ruling.

Masson's Blog adds this observation:

I'm sure the technical legal issues are different, but it reminds me a bit of the fight over whether prosecutors are entitled to see Rush Limbaugh's medical records in an effort to determine whether he was doctor shopping for oxycontin prescriptions.
A court recently ruled that, until charges of doctor shopping are filed, "doctors can't be asked about 'the medical condition of the patient (or) any information disclosed to the healthcare practitioner by the patient in the course of the care and treatment of the patient.'" Without charges having been filed, the prosecution can't get at that information.

Seems like the same standards should apply in both cases. Either we allow the government to go on fishing expeditions into people's medical records or we don't.

Prayer warrior

House Speaker Brian Bosma (R) plans to challenge the federal court decision against sectarian prayer in the Indiana House.  Taking Down Words and Advance Indiana, Belicove.com and the Indiana Law Blog are following the developments.

Writes TDW:

B-Boz is back, and he's angrier than ever about federal judge David Hamilton's declaration that the House chambers be free of religious oppression. But at least he's being sensible about what will happen if the issue isn't resolved by the beginning of the session next year ...

Lake County judge dies

Judge James Danikolas, Lake Superior Court 3, died Saturday while on vacation in Florida. Just three days before his death, Judge Danikolas had been suspended by the Supreme Court for 60 days.

Reporting: Indiana Law Blog.   Deliberate Chaos remembers a friendly and fair judge.

Get out of jail free?

The Indiana Supreme Court issued an opinion that criminal defendants must be tried within 6 months of arrest, or they must be released, reports Marcia Oddi at the Indiana Law Blog.

Some counties have been scrambling to set trials, but ILB cites an Evansville Courier & Press story stating Vanderburgh county was already in compliance.

The ruling has had little impact locally, however, because criminal trials in Vanderburgh County are routinely scheduled long before the six-month cutoff.

Local legal professionals could not remember any recent cases in Vanderburgh County where a defendant had to be set free after languishing in jail for too long, awaiting trial.

Victory for public

The Indiana Court of Appeals held in favor of the public's right to know details of a town's settlement with a former employee. 

It's a victory for the public writes Tracy Warner:

Too many lawsuits involving government and public agencies are settled secretly out of court when the public has a right to know how the case was settled.

Objection!

Taking Down Words chronicles the courtroom drama that led to the exclusion of evidence in a criminal case in Marion County.

TDW explains:

The story is about the trial of a guy who tried to choke his bank-fraud-accomplice-turned-police-informant to death. The woman was wearing a wire, and the attack was caught on tape. Slam-dunky? Sorta.

"Evans' attorneys objected to airing the audiotape before it had been admitted into evidence, cutting short that part of Brizzi's presentation."

D'oh!

With mistakes like that, you'd think this was Brizzi's first time in a courtroom.

Fun for all

The Indiana Supreme Court has published an electronic coloring book on its website, according the Marcia Oddi at the Indiana Law Blog.  Not enough fun for you?  The justices offer a Supreme Court word search and crossword puzzle. I can't wait until they post a sudoko puzzle, myself.

Seriously. You can color the State Seal, the State Flag, stained glass windows from the Statehouse, and more, at this Supreme Court site. Crayons are included.

New state law school proposed

Indiana State University proposes establishing a new state law school, writes Torpor Indy.

Some raise the question: Is another law school that will create more lawyers a good idea for Indiana?

I suspect that some attorneys might ask if adding additional attorneys to the state's rolls is good for the legal business.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I'm an attorney licensed in Indiana and Illinois).

Comments Torpor Indy:

However, the state commissioner for higher education, Stan Jones, remarks “I've not been aware that we need more lawyers in the state."

Stan Jones is right. There is a severe shortage of nurses and pharmacists all over the country, but it is just the opposite for lawyers. There are too many lawyers and not enough good jobs.

Standard of care based on the Bible?

The Indiana Law Blog reports that the Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments in the case Penn Harris Madison vs. Howard regarding the standard of care owed to a student.  Howard was a student injured during a school production of Peter Pan. The trial court issued a verdict for Howard. The school appealed and now the case is before the Indiana Supreme Court.

The Indiana Law Blog quotes a South Bend Tribune story explaining the case:

The school's defense is based on a legal theory called standard of care, which also applies in Howard's case.

Essentially, P-H-M says Howard should have exercised the same degree of care that an adult would have exercised when he attached a harness to a cable to simulate flight across a stage.

But Howard's lawyer says that's too strict a standard, even though Indiana trial rules have long applied the adult standard of care to minors above the age of 14. * * *

The hearing involved a brief history of Indiana's standard of care rule, often called the "rule of sevens." Rooted in biblical injunctions, the rule assigns greater or lesser responsibility to children depending on if they are younger than 7, younger than 14 or older than 14.

Noting the rule's biblical origin, Justice Frank Sullivan Jr. asked Shannon L. Robinson, P-H-M's lawyer, why it should apply. "Maybe my question is, should we follow the Bible?"

Answer: "My question is, should we follow 90 years of precedent in this court?"

'Mississippi of the North'

Torpor Indy points to a national study that says Indiana lags behind in human rights protections.

Indiana has long been called "The Mississippi of the North" and this study seems to back a lot of that up. The Hoosier state performed miserably in other quality of life categories as well.

The story appears at a time when Indianapolis is trying to pass a Human Rights Ordinance.  Covering the issue are Torpor Indy who reports calls to Councilor Gibson are running 60-40 against,  Bilerico.com with more information about Ron Gibson, and Advance Indiana which has been providing extensive reporting on the issue.

Great perks!

Marcia Oddi at the Indiana Law Blog reports that special perks were given to a federal government witness in the trial of a corrupt Gary cop who was sentenced to life in prison for his major rule in a drug gang which included executing rivals.

Apparently this is not just something you see in tv shows. The Gary Post-Tribune reports today, in a story by Danielle Braff:

A key witness in the trial of ex-cop James Ervin was given perks while he was in prison that included sex with female visitors, sex with a female prison guard and use of a cell phone, U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen said.

But these perks weren’t enough to prevent Ervin from getting a fair trial, a judge ruled. * * *

The news article didn't mention what happened to the female prison guard.

Hoosier tycoon sues over repo

Masson's Blog details the story about the Indiana millionaire who is suing Honda Finance.

Solely from reading what appeared in that article, I just hope there is some way they can both lose.

Notary Public title abused

Marci Oddi spotlights an Indiana Supreme Court decision regarding unauthorized practice of immigration law.

The case highlights a common problem in immigration law: people taking advantage of the title "Notary Public" to create the impression they are a select class of elite attorneys because the title "Notario Publico" means that in many Latin American countries.

Held the Court:

Under these circumstances, the Court concludes Diaz’s use of the titles “Notary Public” and “Notario Publico” in advertisements, on business cards, on her office wall, and on her awning constitutes the unauthorized practice of law.

No Seat Belt? No Problem!

Adam Packer urges the general assembly to repeal a law:

The offensive passages: Indiana Code Section 9-19-10-7 states that a front-seat passenger's failure to wear a seatbelt does not constitute fault and cannot be used to mitigate damages. Indiana Code Section 9-19-11-8 says that a failure to properly restrain a child under the age of three in a child passenger restraint system "does not constitute contributory negligence."

This means that if I am in an accident with a person who fails to wear a seatbelt and he suffers an injury, I am prohibited, by law, from raising the fact that he didn't wear a seatbelt as a defense to the injured person's claims against me. The same goes for unrestrained children.

Everybody's Talking...

A decision on prayer in the Indiana House that people are already talking about: Taking Down Words, Dogwood Files, Masson's Blog, Liberal Indiana, Tracy Warner, Deliberate Chaos

UPDATE: Leo Morris goes one better and comments on their comments

Indiana Politico:

Our courts were successful in conveying this message: Jesus is not the official sponsor of the Indiana House of Representatives.

Work of Blogs?

Indiana Law Blog:

[...]there has been no coverage of this dispute, to my knowledge, other than in Lake County. Maybe that is what blogs are for.

Making News

Some big decisions from the Indiana Supreme Court today.  Indiana Law Blog on the abortion waiting period and same sex parents.

REACTION: Advance Indiana

Stealing

Region Broad reports a blatant trademark infringement by a northwest Indiana business.

TRACKBACK: Deliberate Chaos on her post

It's Over

Kemplog breaks down the legal aspects of divorce.

More on Media

Leo Morris on Advance Indiana's post suggesting Mike Pence was being a hypocrite with regard to his shield law:

Pence makes a valid point that there is a difference in a leak that involves “real time” classified information that poses an “imminent threat” (the prison story) and a leak that involved a CIA employee who wasn't really covert and not in any danger from being "outed."

Still, Leo -- who has worked as a professional journalist for more than 30 years -- has several problems with Pence's proposed shield law.  For instance:

Something I write in this blog would be covered under the law because I am doing it under the umbrella of a historically accepted form of the press, i.e., newspapers, TV news operations, public-relations outfits. Something posted on Fort Wayne Observed or Indiana Parley, because they are done merely by ordinary citizens acting on their own, would not be.

PREVIOUSLY: Pence a hypocrite?

Not Good

Indiana Law Blog: State official says gas station too expensive to clean up.

ALSO: A roundup of decisions issued by the Indiana Court of Appeals today.

Indiana's First Interstellar Spaceship

Leo Morris reports on Indiana's next great inventor, Huntington's Boris Volfson, who was

awarded Patent No. 6,960,975 for an interstellar spaceship that "will have flux modulators, a superconductive shield around it that bends space-time, and a 'space-time curvature anomaly' that escapes gravity and pushes the ship so fast it can carry a crew to distant stars."

ALSO: Leo notes, bemusedly, this excerpt from a letter to the editor written an Indiana college student:

At first, it could be difficult for Hoosiers to adjust to daylight-saving time. I believe it can be done!

AND: Will [Evan] Bayh join the Borking [of Sam Alito]?

Court: Fee Requirement Violates 14th Amendment

Indiana Law Blog: Requirement to pay for pretrial diversions decided by Court of Appeals today

To the Bench

Indiana Law Blog posts a list of new court appointments by Gov. Daniels.

Murray Clark Resigns

Indiana Daily Insight:

Murray Clark (R) resigns his Senate seat today to join Baker & Daniels. Among the names rumored as being interested in replacing him: Indiana City-County Councilmember Isaac Randolph (R) and Zionsville Town Councilmember Bill Soards (R)...but the list likely won't end there.

BACKFILL: Clark was ran for lieutenant governor in 2000 as the running mate of gubernatorial candidate David McIntosh