Category : Featured Article
AT BALLOT’S END; AND MY DIGRESSION
Indiana’s Proposed “Right to Hunt” Amendment Somewhere near the end of your November 2016 general election ballot there will appear a proposed Amendment to Article 1 of the Indiana Constitution, which is the Hoosier “Bill of Rights.” Article 16, § 1 of the Indiana Constitution sets out the procedure for Amendments. An Amendment must be: […]
SARAH v. THE DOLLAR STORE; AND A FACELESS FACEBOOK
So what are the opening five words of the First Amendment preceding the “Establishment” and “Free Exercise” clauses? Here they are: “Congress shall make no law…” The initial prohibition behind one of our most cherished liberties was aimed squarely (and exclusively) at Congress. It took the Fourteenth Amendment plus Court Opinions to make the First […]
FIELD TESTS AND STATE LABS
While scanning the Indiana Law Blog (www.indianalawblog.com) on July 13, 2016 I saw reference (and a link) to Sunday’s NYT Magazine and an article therein titled “How a $2 Roadside Drug Test Sends Innocent People to Jail.” The point of the article is that these “kit” tests (where, for instance, a blue precipitate is taken […]
NO COMMON LAW OF DIVORCE
Henry VIII (at left) and Cardinal Wolsey Not long ago I wrote a two-installment Article on what I called “Common Law Divorce,” the phenomenon of unmarried former domestic partners flocking to the courts to disentangle their property interests. The topic had nothing to do with married people filing for a divorce pursuant to statutory authority. […]
A VICTORY NONETHELESS
Moving traffic violations that are infractions are seldom threatening enough to move a client to “dig deep” to retain me. Even then I can’t guarantee any particular result for the money. I’m sure that I have said “pay the fine” more than once, when asked for advice about a pending citation. After all, experience shows […]
COMMON LAW DIVORCE, LESSON TWO
The topic of this Article is the progress, or evolution, of common law divorce in Indiana subsequent to Glasgo v. Glasgo, 410 N.E.2d 1325 (Ind.Ct.App. 1980). It was nearly certain that I would write on the relevant topic of common law divorce, but the catalyst for writing now arrived in the form of the unanimous […]
COMMON LAW DIVORCE, LESSON ONE
I’ll explain within the next paragraph what I mean by “common law divorce,” but first a short refresher about common law marriage. Through January 1, 1958 Indiana was said to tolerate common law marriage but not to encourage that arrangement. In the 1956 case of Anderson v. Anderson, 131 N.E.2d 301 (Ind. 1956) a unanimous […]
THE PENCE CORRESPONDENCE (OF THE ABSURD)
My last two featured articles dealt with the judgeship of the Hammond City Court. The earlier article of April 21, 2016 was an analysis of Judge Jeffrey Harkin’s appointment of a special judge to serve temporarily during Judge Harkin’s disability. The follow-up article of April 25, 2016 was written in the wake of news of […]
A SOLEMN UPDATE AND UNSOLICITED ADVICE TO THE GOVERNOR
Hammond City Court Judge Jeffrey Harkin passed away April 22, 2016, two days after publication of his appointment of a special judge and one day after my posted Article analyzing that action. While I speculated what might follow a prolonged disability, my speculation was rendered moot by death and the consequent vacancy in the Office […]
A CASE OF JUDICIAL DISABILITY
The NWI Times dedicated front page ink in its April 20, 2016 issue to the ongoing health travails of Hammond City Court Judge Jeffrey Harkin. It was reported that Judge Harkin had appointed a court referee as “special judge” of the Hammond City Court due to Judge Harkin’s “health issues.” The article mentioned that Governor […]