GRAVEYARD FOLLIES
Funeral homes, embalmers, and cemeteries are seldom parties to litigation. Yet when there is a perceived legal wrong (like a lost body or an unintended cremation), the family of the decedent most often takes deep offense and feels the need to exact compensation. This Article concerns one such case. On November 23, 2016 the COA […]
DAVE DISHES ON THE 2016 GENERAL ELECTION
This Article will meander between objective analysis and subjective reflection on the 2016 General Election. Statistics cited herein were taken from the “unofficial” results from the Lake County website. Lake County Voting More than 206,000 Lake County voters (nearly 57% of registered voters) turned out to cast a ballot. Of those voting on the issue, […]
STANLEY ON STEROIDS AND MEDICAL SERVICE PRICING
In Stanley v. Walker, 906 N.E.2d 852 (Ind. 2009), the SCOTSI held that the discounted prices negotiated by insurers were relevant evidence (in a personal injury trial) of the reasonable value of the medical services provided to the plaintiff, provided that there was no mention of insurance. Stanley recognized the troubling disparity in medical service […]
“CRIMES” AGAINST DEMOCRACY
If I should wear sandals with black socks or a striped shirt with plaid pants, some would rightly hold me guilty of a “crime” against fashion. My “crime,” however, would exist well outside any penal code. In that sense, there are occasional schemes designed to diminish our cherished (little “d”) democracy. While such schemes are […]
THE LESSON OF “HEE HAW” AND LINEAL LOVE
As a young adult I was exposed, more or less willingly, to that inane, corrupting influence known as “Hee Haw” on weekend television. One delightfully disturbing recollection is the (novelty) song “I’m my own grandpa.” Remarkably, the unlikely familial relationship described within the lyrics was accomplished without the darkness of incest. But that was in […]
EXCULPATORY POLICE VIDEO AND APPELLATE REVIEW
UPDATE (May 11, 2017): the subject COA Opinion has been vacated on Transfer. The SCOTSI Opinion of May 11, 2017 is discussed in an Appellate Case Note. When the challenge flag is tossed and the NFL official peers into the replay monitor, he looks for “indisputable visual evidence” contrary to the ruling on the field. […]
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 […]
REFLECTIONS ON DRUNK DRIVING AND PLEA AGREEMENTS
This article is prompted by recent publicity about drunk driving plea agreements in Lake County, Indiana. I decided to write on the topic after reading in the July 20,2016 edition of the NWI Times of Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter’s new policy of no “reduction” plea agreements for drunk driving defendants. When I entered the […]
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 […]