A good change in the law:
Indiana State Police is spreading the word about two changes to Indiana's Move Over Law that took effect July 1.
Motorists must reduce their vehicle's speed 10 miles per hour under the posted speed limit if they cannot move to an adjacent lane safely. The updated law now also includes utility service vehicles.
[. . .]
Thanks to a legal opinion from Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, some of Indiana's Larry, Darryl and Darryl school corporations won't be able to do just anything for a buck:
Charging a fee to ride the bus to a public school violates the state's constitution, Indiana's attorney general said Monday.
Here's one of those "Who's on first?" situations. A judge has struck down a federal statute on grounds that it violates states' rights, and conservatives who normally complain about federal power are outraged, and liberals who usually love federal power are celebrating. Perfectly understandable considering the nature of the law in question:
Bless Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, whose questions to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan are actually eliciting some of her thoughts on constitutional issues.
The Indiana Department of Labor is taking up the case of a whistleblower who revealed safety issues and unreported overflows at the Michigan City Sanitary District:
The suit, filed in LaPorte Circuit Court on Tuesday, alleges that Ron Meer was unlawfully fired on March 31 by the Sanitary District as retaliation for his complaints to the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Agency.
So, Mr. smartypants libertarian who would like to eliminate a lot of laws, is there a new law you could support? Actually, something to regulate mo-peds would be worth discussing:
In just over a month, three area residents have suffered serious injuries in a wave of mo-ped crashes in Greater Lafayette.
A fourth suffered minor injuries when her mo-ped was struck by a truck.
Indiana's biggest newpaper seems mostly unimpressed with the Supreme Court's pro-Second Amendment decision in the Chicago case. It will barely affect us here, since, you know, this is such a gun-nut-friendly state anyway:
In Indiana, much of the pro-gun work already has been done. Indeed, the state has been a counter-example of virtually every gun-restriction measure even the conservative Supreme Court approves.
At a time when the prison population nationwide has actually declined a bit, Indiana is one of a handful of states with the most growth. Gov. Mitch Daniels tried to get some prison space expansion approved, but the legislature wouldn't approve it, so we're at about, I think, 99 percent capacity.
Criminal genius of the week:
An Ohio man was arrested near the Indiana Toll Road Monday and charged with public nudity after allegedly urinating in a parking lot facing traffic -- and unknowingly asking a State Police trooper if it was legal to do so.
Jay N. Harnish, 39, of Brunswick, Ohio, was arrested for public nudity, a class C misdemeanor, according to a release from Indiana State Police.
As expected, but welcome nonetheless:
The Supreme Court reversed a ruling upholding Chicago's ban on handguns Monday and extended the reach of the 2nd Amendment as a nationwide protection against laws that infringe on the "right to keep and bear arms."
The 5-4 decision appears to void the 1982 ordinance, one of the nation's strictest, which barred city residents from having handguns for their own use, even at home.
