The suit alleges the governor’s executive order is unconstitutional and caused “unjust injury to [the restaurant’s] fundamental civil rights, liberty interests and property rights.”
The court declined Monday to take up an Indiana case seeking to reverse a lower court’s ruling that allows both members of same-sex couples in the state to be listed as parents on the birth certificates of their children.
Federal judges have upheld a law unique to Indiana that prohibits voters from asking county judges to extend voting hours beyond the state’s 6 p.m. closing time because of Election Day troubles.
In a separate case, a judge temporarily stayed, pending appeal, an order blocking an Indiana law that requires absentee ballots be received by noon to be counted.
The injunction approved by Judge Sarah Evans Barker means that all mail-in ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 3 and received on or before Nov. 13—10 days after the election—must be counted, if otherwise valid.
The filing supports a request for an injunction that would block enforcement of an Indiana law requiring absentee ballots be received by election officials by noon on Election Day to be counted.
Southern District of Indiana Judge Richard Young granted an injunction Tuesday sought by Common Cause Indiana. “The public interest plainly favors the injunction,” Young wrote.
Indiana is urging the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to apply the brakes to the challenge to the state’s restrictions on absentee balloting. However, in an order issued Tuesday, the 7th Circuit granted the plaintiffs’ motion to expedite the appeal.
A motion for a preliminary injunction that would expand no-excuse absentee balloting in Indiana was denied in a Friday ruling in the Southern Indiana District Court. Judge James Hanlon found the restrictions on absentee balloting do not absolutely prohibit state residents from voting.
A grand jury indicted two Indianapolis police officers on battery and other charges following an investigation into allegations that they used excessive force while arresting demonstrators at a May protest downtown.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Indianapolis on behalf of Common Cause Indiana argues that the state law wrongly thwarts voters and political parties from protecting the right to vote.
Jonathan Weinzapfel’s Republican opponent is still undecided. Embattled incumbent Curtis Hill and three challengers are running for the GOP nomination.
The lawsuit alleges the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department failed to adequately train, screen and supervise officers to prevent them from engaging in excessive or deadly force.
Longtime state Sen. Karen Tallian and former Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel are vying for the nomination, a selection made by state delegates rather than primary election voters.
Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, asked the court last week to clarify whether Attorney General Curtis Hill would lose his elected position as state government’s top lawyer when his 30-day suspension took effect Monday.
