Choosing a New Chief

As the dwindling seconds of the clock ticked on the 1987 NCAA basketball championship game, Keith Smart launched Indiana onto the national stage by delivering a buzzer-beating two-pointer to defeat Syracuse and claim Indiana University a national title. But this was not the first time in March 1987 that the State of Indiana had [...]

Reflections on Afghanistan

Editor’s Note: Marilyn Moores is our featured Judge in this issue’s SIDEBAR. At our request Judge Moores, who is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Indiana National Guard, wrote this article on her recently completed tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Taking a year off from the bench of the Marion County Superior Court Juvenile Division to [...]

Authorization Required: Restricting Access to Criminal History Information

The Indiana General Assembly passed Public Law 194-2011 (HEA 1211) earlier this year allowing individuals to petition courts to restrict access to certain criminal records. This law creates two new proceedings by amending Indiana Code Title 35, Criminal Law and Procedure, Article 38, Proceedings Following Dismissal, Verdict or Finding. It allows a person [...]

2011 Legislative Review

Editor’s Note: This report is a condensed version of the full report prepared by Diane Mains and Mike McMahon of the Indiana Judicial Center.
The Indiana Judicial Center has prepared a legislative report that contains summaries of select bills of interest passed in the 2011 session and can be can be found at:
http://www.in.gov/legislative/reports/2011/DIGEST_OF_ENACTMENTS.PDF
The entire text [...]

Black History Celebration at Martin University

Supreme Court sponsors two-part educational program
Martin University student, LaTosha Williams, attended the February 15, 2011 Indiana Supreme Court sponsored event at her university with unanswered questions about the judicial branch of government. “Before today, I was curious about judicial responsibilities and activities. I thought that judges probably sit in their courtrooms every day [...]

A Framework for Innovation

A look at the award-winning INcite framework for court data sharing
In 2005, the Indiana Supreme Court’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC) initiated a project that would enable courts to submit electronically commercial driver violations to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). Like other states, Indiana was at risk of losing millions in federal [...]

Slamming the Door on One Size Fits All

A new approach to sentencing, community supervision, and public safety in Indiana
In 2010, Indiana became the 19th state to receive technical assistance from the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project. The Pew Center provided the technical assistance in partnership with the Council of State Governments Justice Center (CSG) to use a [...]

Supreme Court Welcomes Justice Steven David

On a bright, sunny Monday with fall in the air, the Indiana Supreme Court Justices welcomed as the court’s newest member former Boone County Circuit Court Judge, Steven David. The one-hour ceremony included remarks by Governor Mitch Daniels and Chief Justice Shepard. The Governor administered the oath of office to Judge David while his [...]

Digital Copiers and Hard Drives: Keeping a Lid on Confidential Information

Your court staff is very careful to redact data deemed confidential by Administrative Rule 9 and to insist that all litigants properly file on green paper those pleadings that contain confidential information that must be kept private. When they need to make copies they do so carefully, keeping protected information out of the public [...]

How to Handle Expungements

In regards to court records, what is expungement? When is it authorized? How is it accomplished?
Black’s Law Dictionary tells us to expunge is “to destroy or obliterate; blot out; efface designedly; strike out wholly.”
Express authority for courts to order expungement of records in Indiana is rather limited. Statutory authority for expungement of arrest records is [...]

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