This Article is inspired by the political insight of Tammany Hall and by the State of Indiana and its complicit judiciary. Let me begin with Tammany Hall, the political “machine” which long reigned over New York City by means of organization, patronage, and graft. In 1905 George Washington Plunkitt (a/k/a Plunkitt of Tammany Hall) was […]
It was back in 2011 or 2012 when a local man hired me to represent him in defense of a drunk driving charge pending in the East Chicago City Court. Given the fact that my client, “Gary,” took (and failed) a breathalyzer test at the ECPD, I knew that I had to visit the Circuit […]
The Deputy It was Valentine’s Day 2018 when Nikolas Cruz went on a murderous rampage at Parkland, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The CLB responded February 20, 2018 with the initial Featured Article and followed with another (“Second Thoughts on Parkland”) on February 26, 2018 concluding that law enforcement failed the MSD students (and […]
Introduction The CLB is wending its way through Indiana’s “Odd Cops.” If you missed Part One: Special Deputies, you can find it in Featured Articles of December, 2017. Town cops, or town marshals, are an oddity becoming odder as more and more incorporated towns opt to establish police departments. Statutes A town marshal or deputy […]
Introduction Previous Articles in the Odd Cops series have dealt with special deputies, campus cops, railroad cops, and conservation cops. The newcomers to the universe of odd cops are hospital cops, whose existence and authority are warranted by the inexplicably bad behavior seen too often at hospitals and particularly in the Emergency Rooms. Before 2013 […]
CORRECTION (8/5/19): In the second paragraph of the “Case Law” section herein I offered the observation that the drunken boating law formerly at IC 14-15-8-8 had been repealed in 2012. That was not repealed so much as it was hidden or moved to a spot where I did not think to look. I did look […]
Introduction This is the third installment in the CLB’s “Odd Cops” series following previous installments on Special Deputies and University Cops. This installment will focus on railroad cops. I’m reminded of the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid¹ featuring Paul Newman and Robert Redford as affable 1890’s Wyoming train robbers who picked on […]
Introduction This is the second featured article segment on the topic of “Odd Cops” (those less familiar than City Cops, State Police, or County Sheriff’s Deputies). The series began a while back with a look at special deputies of the County Sheriff. A catalyst for the “Odd Cops” topic in general was the COA’s February […]
“Hammond’s Victory for Now” was the title of the CLB’s Featured Article posted February 22, 2018 and analyzing the February 20, 2018 COA Opinion in City of Hammond v. Herman & Kittle Properties, Inc. The CLB predicted a grant of Transfer and correction of the COA’s error in awarding a rental fee windfall to the […]
The drama queen’s house of cards has collapsed. According to police, Cook County Prosecutors, and the most credible information made public to date, the black, gay actor known as Jussie Smollett falsely reported the alleged racist, homophobic attack upon his person in late January of this year. Experience has taught me to be skeptical, if […]