https://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/jail-recent-booking-records.aspx
“READERS FORUM†JUNE 8, 2019
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Senators Braun & Young, Representative Carson Introduce Bill to Rename Indianapolis Post Office After Senator Richard Lugar
Senator Mike Braun, Senator Todd Young, Representative André Carson (IN-07), Representative Pete Vislosky (IN01), Representative Jackie Walorski (IN-02), Representative Jim Banks (IN-03), Representative Jim Baird (IN-04), Representative Susan Brooks (IN-05), Representative Greg Pence (IN-06), Representative Larry Bucshon (IN-08), and Representative Trey Hollingsworth (IN-09) introduced legislation to rename the United States Post Office building at 456 North Meridian Street in Indianapolis after Senator Richard G. Lugar.
“Senator Richard Lugar is a towering figure in Hoosier history and one of the greatest statesmen ever to serve in the U.S. Senate: it’s only fitting for us to rename the Indianapolis Post Officer after him,â€Â said Senator Mike Braun.
“Senator Lugar leaves a legacy as an exemplar of wisdom, civility, and bipartisanship. Many years ago, I had the privilege of working on Senator Lugar’s staff, and I had a front row seat to history, watching a statesman at work. This is one small way we can ensure Senator Lugar’s legacy lives on,â€Â said Senator Todd Young.
“Senator Lugar’s distinguished career in public service and his statesmanship are an enduring source of pride and inspiration for Indianapolis – the city where he was born and raised, and served as Mayor. I’m proud to help preserve his legacy by honoring him in this way,” said Representative André Carson.Â
BACKGROUND
This bipartisan, bicameral legislation designates Indianapolis’ main post office as the Richard G. Lugar Post Office Building. “To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 456 North Meridian Street in Indianapolis, Indiana, as the ‘Richard G. Lugar Post Office Building.’â€
Commentary: Indiana Needs To Get Off The Pot
Commentary: Indiana Needs To Get Off The Pot
By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
IndyPolitics.org
Before we get started, let’s make a couple of things perfectly clear. I think marijuana should be legal for both recreational and medicinal purposes. Second, I don’t smoke pot because it dulls my hatred and cynicism of most people. Now, with those two premises established, Indiana needs to get off the pot and start preparing for the day that marijuana becomes legal.
Abdul Hakim-Shabazz is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org.
I say this because, in the last couple of weeks, two more states took steps toward either legalizing marijuana or decriminalizing its possession; North Dakota and Illinois.
In North Dakota, lawmakers went the decriminalization route. An individual caught with marijuana for the first time and has less than half an ounce will no longer be charged with a criminal misdemeanor, but instead with an infraction and pay a fine. Meanwhile, in my home state of Illinois, lawmakers went the full 45 and legalized marijuana for recreational use. It was already legal for medicinal purposes. Now, it can be used recreationally. On top of that, the law also will clear the convictions of up to 770,000 individuals with low-level marijuana convictions.
According to Governing magazine, 33 states have some form of legalized marijuana. For the record, it takes the approval of 34 states to amend the U.S. Constitution.
Indiana, what’s your problem?
I understand it took decades just to get Sunday retail alcohol sales, so asking for marijuana legalization might be a bit much, but at the very least lawmakers and policymakers should start preparing for the day the pot is legal in the Hoosier state. It’s inevitable, just like same-sex marriage was.
The state should convene a commission and start promulgating what the rules should be for marijuana legalization and consumption, so when that day arrives, lawmakers are ready to go. And it’s not like Indiana would have to start from scratch. It has 33 other states to look at to see what works and what doesn’t work.
Should Indiana look at a distribution system like the state of Washington that has growers, distributors, and retailers? Should it look at a place like Nevada that allows for dispensaries to deliver? Should Indiana allow a certain amount to be grown at home for personal use, like a number of states? And like Illinois, if marijuana is legalized, should we remove the convictions of low-level offenders who were caught with a small amount of pot? Which by the way, now that is legal in Illinois, I somehow think there are going to be a lot of people making trips to Chicago, Danville, and Marshall, Illinois. I’m just saying.
And it’s not like there’s a lot of opposition to marijuana legalization. In the 2018 Hoosier Survey poll conducted by Ball State and Old National Bank, 80 percent of respondents said marijuana should be legal in one form or another; 39 percent favored legalization for all purposes, while 42 percent favored medical only and just 16 percent opposed any form of legalization. So, it’s unlikely lawmakers would face any significant political consequences for at least looking at what a regulatory scheme would look like for marijuana legalization.
And even my good friend Gov. Eric Holcomb, who has opposed legalization because it is still considered a controlled substance under the Food and Drug Administration, should not have an issue with, at the least, making sure Indiana is prepared for what might happen should marijuana be legalized. A lot of states waited until after they legalized pot to come up with rules. In this case, Indiana can be ahead of the game and not only have regulations in place to address legalization, but it also has nearly three dozen states to study and pick out the best practices.
This isn’t hard to figure out, folks, unless you’ve been smoking something other than pot.
FOOTNOTE: Abdul Hakim-Shabazz is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org.
Nikki Haley Responds After Whoopi Goldberg Calls Her Pro-life Stance ‘Anti-Human’
TOWNHALL
On Tuesday Whoopi Goldberg blasted former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley for her comments at the 12th annual Campaign for Life Gala hosted by Susan B. Anthony List.
Haley drew ire from critics when she said the pro-choice side of the abortion debate, which “demands conformity,†among women is not real feminism.
Goldberg took issue with Haley’s comments and spoke about it on The View.
“See to me, you taking choice from people is anti-human…I don’t say that everybody has to believe, but I say you want to have choice, I don’t want you in my coochie…and you don’t want me in yours either,†Goldberg said.
Haley responded to Goldberg by tweeting an edited video showcasing both women’s remarks with the caption “I’m not going to get in the gutter with Whoopi on this, but listen to both of us and you decide.â€
It almost seems like Haley predicted Goldberg would attack her for her comments. During her speech, she said the pro-life movement is a “thankless cause” and advocates receive more than a “fair share of name calling and abuse.” The pro-life movement is a noble cause. It’s also a thankless cause. That’s because the people you are fighting for aren’t in a position to thank you. They are the voiceless ones. We are their voice. There is little recognition in this struggle, little glory. In fact, the opposite is typically true. Many, if not all of you, have endured more than your fair share of name-calling and abuse. (Susan B. Anthony List)
Haley continued by saying that most of the attacks she receives for her pro-life views come from other women.
The most strident attacks came from my fellow women. You’ve heard it all before: Pro-life women are traitors to their gender. If we truly care about women’s rights, we would support abortion rights.
Women are expected to support choice – simply because we are women.
That’s just wrong. We all have to be true to ourselves and to others.
Unfortunately, many on the left use the abortion debate to divide women and demand conformity. They do this in the name of feminism.
But that is not real feminism. The idea that women must adhere to a particular set of values is one of the most anti-women ideas in today’s culture. It is a rejection of the ideas of equality and tolerance that the women’s movement is supposed to be about.
Haley provides a direct rebuttal to Goldberg’s claim that being pro-life is “anti-human” in her speech. She contends that the pro-life position is not about women, but for the right of the baby to live–the most basic human right.
On Tuesday Whoopi Goldberg blasted former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley for her comments at the 12th annual Campaign for Life Gala hosted by Susan B. Anthony List.
Haley drew ire from critics when she said the pro-choice side of the abortion debate, which “demands conformity,†among women is not real feminism.
Goldberg took issue with Haley’s comments and spoke about it on The View.
“See to me, you taking choice from people is anti-human…I don’t say that everybody has to believe, but I say you want to have choice, I don’t want you in my coochie…and you don’t want me in yours either,†Goldberg said.
Haley responded to Goldberg by tweeting an edited video showcasing both women’s remarks with the caption “I’m not going to get in the gutter with Whoopi on this, but listen to both of us and you decide.â€
The pro-life movement is a noble cause. It’s also a thankless cause. That’s because the people you are fighting for aren’t in a position to thank you. They are the voiceless ones. We are their voice. There is little recognition in this struggle, little glory. In fact, the opposite is typically true. Many, if not all of you, have endured more than your fair share of name-calling and abuse. (Susan B. Anthony List)
Haley continued by saying that most of the attacks she receives for her pro-life views come from other women.
The most strident attacks came from my fellow women. You’ve heard it all before: Pro-life women are traitors to their gender. If we truly care about women’s rights, we would support abortion rights.
Women are expected to support choice – simply because we are women.
That’s just wrong. We all have to be true to ourselves and to others.
Unfortunately, many on the left use the abortion debate to divide women and demand conformity. They do this in the name of feminism.
But that is not real feminism. The idea that women must adhere to a particular set of values is one of the most anti-women ideas in today’s culture. It is a rejection of the ideas of equality and tolerance that the women’s movement is supposed to be about.
Haley provides a direct rebuttal to Goldberg’s claim that being pro-life is “anti-human” in her speech. She contends that the pro-life position is not about women, but for the right of the baby to live–the most basic human right.
As a pro-life, female governor, I was blessed with a unique platform, and I made every effort to use it appropriately. Not to lob attacks at people who disagreed with me, not to diminish the other side, but to reframe the debate. To explain that being pro-life is not about being for or against women. It is about being for a baby’s right to live – the most basic right there is.
Clearly, Haley showed that the pro-life position is NOT anti-human, rather it is PRO-human. It is Goldberg’s position, the pro-abortion stance, which is anti-human.
Haley’s comments come amidst a heated abortion debate in the country. In the past several months, multiple states have passed laws restricting or expanding abortion.
a pro-life, female governor, I was blessed with a unique platform, and I made every effort to use it appropriately. Not to lob attacks at people who disagreed with me, not to diminish the other side, but to reframe the debate. To explain that being pro-life is not about being for or against women. It is about being for a baby’s right to live – the most basic right there is.
Clearly, Haley showed that the pro-life position is NOT anti-human, rather it is PRO-human. It is Goldberg’s position, the pro-abortion stance, which is anti-human.
Haley’s comments come amidst a heated abortion debate in the country. In the past several months, multiple states have passed laws restricting or expanding abortion.
THIS LAND IS OUR LAND
THIS LAND IS OUR LAND
Gavel Gamut By Jim Redwine
www.jamesmredwine.com
Woody Guthrie (Woodrow Wilson Guthrie 1912-1967) came of age in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. When one hears Woody sing about the America of those times Guthrie’s personal experiences and perceptions should be considered. In that context, his song’s ironic lyrics that point out America might not have been made for everybody speak to those Americans left out by our Founding Fathers, who were all well-to-do white men.
James Madison (1751-1836) is called the Father of the United States Constitution for good reason. He conceived of and drafted most of the Constitution including its first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights. Madison and the rest of the fifty-five well-to-do white men who attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May 25 to September 17, 1787 met in secret. The public and the media were excluded and the delegates were sworn to secrecy.
Madison and his fellow Virginian, George Mason (1725-1792), were of like mind in believing average citizens were not equipped to govern themselves and, therefore, a Constitution needed to provide for a government to consist of capable representatives who could provide for the common good. Such groups as women, Negroes and Native Americans were not to have a say in determining their own destiny. Over the years since 1787 we have slowly and gradually addressed some of the Founders’ omissions.
Slavery was abolished almost one hundred years late by the XIIIth Amendment and women were given the right to vote by the XVIIIIth Amendment in 1920. Young men who could be drafted to fight for their country at age eighteen but could not vote until age twenty-one, were fully enfranchised in 1971 by the XXVIth Amendment.
America from the Spanish Conquistadors of the 16th century until this very day has struggled with what were, are and ought to be the ideals of our country’s government. Competing interest groups such as religious sects, LGBTQ citizens, immigrants, political parties, social and cultural associations, news media and countless others exert pressures and vie for recognition and inclusion in our American dream of equality and equal opportunity. In short, America calls itself a melting pot, but it is often more of a bubbling cauldron of competing aspirations.
As we near our mutual birthday on July 04, we may wish to re-examine the base upon which our national dreams were founded and candidly evaluate our progress. Of course, it is only human that in a country of over three hundred million people we will always have disagreements on what directions to go and the best methods for getting there. And we should, also, probably both recognize the genius of our Founders and remember they were simply humans too.
For more Gavel Gamut articles go to www.jamesmredwine.com
Or “Like†us on Facebook at JPegRanchBooks&Knitting
An Explorative Lecture Series
Jacqueline Woodson is an author of books for all ages. She was named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2018-19 by the Library of Congress.
Her books touch on a variety of themes including gender, African-American society and history, and economic status.
Her several awards include The Poetry Foundation’s Young People’s Poet Laureate, Newbery Honor Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, and The Caldecott Medal.
Wednesday, June 12 | 6:00 pm
Old National Events Plaza’s Aiken Theatre
DNA Testing Developing, Strengthening Wrongful Conviction Cases
Olivia Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com
The science of DNA testing is evolving, and that’s a good thing for wrongful conviction reform advocates like Fran Watson.
Watson, a professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, leads the law school’s Wrongful Conviction Clinic. Things have changed a lot since the clinic secured its first exoneration in 2001, as scientists have developed new ways of testing DNA and matching it, or not, to suspected criminals.
Watson spoke on the history of exoneration work during a late-morning session of the Indiana State Bar Association Solo/Small Firm Conference on Friday. Speaking to an audience that included several alumni of the Wrongful Conviction Clinic, Watson traced the history of DNA exonerations and debunked some common myths about forensic tools law enforcement can use to identify or rule out suspects.
Fingerprint science, for example, cannot yet identify one specific individual. Watson told the story of a federal employee who was told he had just been given access to his building via his fingerprint. The problem, she said, was that the employee had been accessing the building with “his†finger for months, the system apparently believing his prints were someone else’s.
Individual hair samples likewise cannot individualize a suspect, Watson said. Each person has many different types of hairs on their heads, and what’s more, hair-based suspect matches have later been refuted. One such situation was the case in which Roosevelt Glenn and Darryl Pinkins were arrested, convicted and later exonerated of a 1989 Hammond rape.
But what is proving reliable is an emerging form of DNA science known as probabilistic genotyping, an algorithmic science that uses probabilities to match DNA markers to specific individuals, even if multiple DNA samples have been mixed. Watson admits it’s a complex science that only a handful of people fully grasp, but it was the tool that excluded Pinkins and Glenn from the DNA samples collected from the 1989 rape.
The importance of developing science, Watson said, is that jurors will believe what they are told the science tells them. Thus, if faulty science is unwittingly presented to jurors, they will rely heavily on that misinformation when deciding whether to convict.
“I’ll ask jurors, ‘Why did you convict?’ and they say, ‘The science said so,’†Watson said. “But the science didn’t say so.â€
Reliable DNA testing is particularly important when it comes to proving harm, Watson said. Of the nine factors for admitting newly discovered evidence, she said the most difficult to prove is the ninth — that the new evidence would produce a different result.
But with conclusive DNA exclusions, such as was the case in Pinkins’ and Roosevelt’s case, the harm is “easy†to prove: the defendant has been accused, but the DNA clearly shows it wasn’t him. From there, Watson said, it becomes easier to prove that a different result would have come from the case had the new DNA evidence been available initially.
The consequences of a wrongful conviction are obvious but impactful, the professor said: families destroyed, innocent people incarcerated and guilty people walking free. Indiana has a comparatively good set of laws related to wrongful convictions, she said, noting the Indiana Constitution prohibits the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.
Even so, reforms are still needed, Watson said. She praised the Indiana Legislature for enacting House Enrolled Act 1150, which compensates exonerated prisoners $50,000 for each year they were wrongfully incarcerated, during the 2019 General Assembly.
Watson also celebrated Indiana Rule of Evidence 617, which requires confessions to be recorded unless certain exceptions exist. That’s crucial especially in cases where confessions are alleged to be false, she said.
In the next decade, Watson expects DNA science to get stronger. She noted that both the FBI and the Indiana State Police have begun using probabilistic genotyping, while national organizations are working to develop more protocols, standardization and ethics regarding the accuracy of genetic testing.
“That means lawyers are going to have to learn new techniques,†Watson said, a positive development that she welcomes.
HOT JOBS IN EVANSVILLE
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Purple Aces Coaches Caravan set for five stops
Caravan runs from June through October
Five stops are on tap for the 2019 Purple Aces Coaches Caravan presented by Bud Light, which will feature visits to different venues across the Evansville area.
The 2019 caravan stops include:
– June 19th – Doc’s Sports Bar – 6:30 p.m.
o 1305 Stringtown Road, Evansville
– July 17th – Mister B’s (Henderson, Ky.) – 6:30 p.m.
o 2611 UE-41, Henderson
– August 28th – The Rooftop Food & Drinks – 6:30 p.m.
o 112 NW Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Evansville
– September 19th – Piston’s Bar & Grill – 6:30 p.m.
o 2131 W. Franklin St., Evansville
– October 23rd – Mister B’s (Evansville) – 6:30 p.m.
o Will be located on N. Burkhardt in Evansville and is set to open in the summer of 2019
Hosted by Jevin Redman and Kyle Peach, the caravans will feature various University of Evansville coaches at each stop. Aces men’s basketball coach Walter McCarty will take part in each stop while each other coach will make appearances as well.
Each caravan is free to attend. Food and drinks may be purchased at each stop. Prizes will be given out at each one and will include new logo Aces gear, unique UE experiences, Bud Light merchandise and much more.
Fans will also have the opportunity to receive ticket information for all Aces sports programs and mingle with coaches as they prepare for the 2019-20 seasons.
Dates and times are subject to change. As each stop draws closer, follow UE Athletics on social media for the most up-to-date news.