Our hyperpartisan divide is starting to spill over into everything. A Hoosier pervert pleaded guilty to posting an obscene message on a 17-year-old female's MySpace page, the and the judge got creative:
As part of his punishment, the judge ordered him to walk up and down Main Street in Petersburg, Ind., wearing a sign of shame.
The sign read, “I sent an obscene message to a minor, and I am truly sorry.“
I hate giving The Journal Gazette attention so early in the week, but its Political Notebook writers brought up something too good to pass on. It seems Gov. Mitch Daniels challenged some reporters' cultural literacy when he said the General Assembly had played defense more than offense in what turned out to be a "Hippocratic session":
The times are a changing, so jury rules have to as well:
The Indiana Supreme Court earlier this month issued new rules that, in greater detail, address technology and quick, easy access to outside information via the Internet.
For instance, computers, laptops, cell phones and other electronic devices will be banned from the courtroom and jury room. Jurors also will be prohibited from using the Internet to do independent research at home.
I had wondered whether Gov. Mitch Daniels was going to show himself more business-friendly or more Second Amendment-friendly regarding HEA 1065, the legislation allowing employees to keep guns in their locked cars at work. Now we know. He signed the bill today and made a few remarks about it. His statements are in an-email, so I'll just cut and paste the whole thing:
Well, ain't we special?
Mississippi, which has built much of its marketing for more than a decade around being the third largest gaming destination in the country, lost that title in 2009 to Indiana.
The state slipped to fourth place in terms of adjusted gross revenues from commercial gaming. In 2009, Mississippi reported $2.46 billion to Indiana's $2.58 billion.
[. . .]
Chief Justice and Hoosier native John Roberts might be too controversial for Butler University, but he's apparently just fine for Indiana University. On April 7, he'll become the third justice -- but the first chief justice -- to give the annual James P. White Lecture on Legal Education:
There is at least one trend Indiana is bucking. The number of inmates in U.S. prisons has dropped for the first time since 1972. There were 1,403,091 prisoners as of Jan. 1, down 5,739 or .4 percent from a year ago. The number of prisoners decreased in 27 states and increased in 23. Guess which group we're in:
In 23 states, the number of prisoners increased in 2009 — notably in Indiana by 5.3 percent and in Pennsylvania by 4.3 percent.
[. . .]
Teacher salaries are believed to be a major sticking point in Fort Wayne Community Schools efforts to cut $15 million from the budget, even if giving up raises and step increases would save a certain number of teachers' jobs. But they seem to have gotten over that hump in Kokomo:
This ought to raise a few eyebrows.
Chief Justice John Roberts might attend the Butler University commencement ceremonies as a relative -- his niece is graduating -- but he is apparently too controversial to be invited to speak at the occasion:
University faculty members scuttled a student-led drive to invite Roberts to speak at the May 8 ceremony, a decision that has disappointed the students and some conservatives on the Indianapolis campus.
