The law and the jungle

A lot of news outlets had the story of the New York woman busted for driving in the High Occupancy Vehicle lane with a well-dressed mannequin sitting beside her instead of the legally required live second passenger. But only the New York Post went the extra distance to come up with a clever headline: Driving for dummies.

A Carthage man demonstrates the wrong way to show up for a court hearing:

Authorities said they smelled alcohol on the breath of Daniel R. Lucas, 38, at a Monday hearing stemming from his March 2009 conviction on drunken driving and resisting-law-enforcement charges. Tests confirmed he had been drinking, and Judge Bob Witham ordered him jailed for 15 days.

Mitch Daniels has been a business-friendly governor, so maybe he'll veto this when it gets to his desk:

Hoosiers who want to keep guns in their cars while they're at work gained more support Tuesday in the General Assembly.

The state House of Representatives voted 76-21 to approve a bill that would make it illegal for employers in Indiana to prohibit workers from keeping firearms in their locked vehicles on company property.

Want something from this house? Well, how about a few of these?

A home invasion suspect was in critical condition this morning after being shot by a homeowner.

Fort Wayne Police were called around 3:15 a.m. to 4730 Reed St., where officers found a man wearing a ski mask on the ground. He had gunshot wounds and a weapon nearby, according to police spokeswoman Raquel Foster.

[. . .]

From texting we move to to "sexting," the electronic transmission of sexually explicit material. The General Assembly is considering making that activity by teens a "delinquent act" not because it isn't currently covered by law but because the current statutes leave authorities with only two extreme options: Do nothing, or hit the kids with a felony that would require them to register as sex offenders and follow them for the rest of their lives. The new law would express disapproval without being quite so draconian.

The momentum keeps building for bans on texting while driving. A new federal rule went into effect yesterday that bans interstate commercial truckers and bus drivers from sending text messages while they are operating moving vehicles. And an Indiana House committee is considering a bill that would make it illegal for any driver to send text messages or e-mails while driving. The story about that also points out:

Plucky State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, usually introduces a statewide smoking ban just to watch it die in the Senate. This year, he pulled his own bill rather than see it killed by fellow Democrats in the House:

As written, the bill would ban smoking in all public places except casinos, an exception Brown said he made to avoid becoming a target of gaming lobbyists. However, the bill was amended three times Monday, with Brown offering the first.

I was going to start this off with, "Ah, life is good." But that's a bit of an overraction in the world of politics, so i'll just say, "Well. Pretty good week." First, a single election in Massachusetts changed the whole political landscape in Washington. Health care reform is dead, and cap-and-trade is on life support.

The times, they are a changin:

Eight in 10 Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use and nearly half favor decriminalizing the drug more generally, both far higher than a decade ago.

Enjoy driving on Indiana freeways while you can, before they become one giant speed trap. Spurred by the state's budget shortfall and inspired by the huge number of tickets Maryland has been able to write under a similar program, two Indiana legislators want to start using a "work zone freeway speed camera" program (added emphasis mine):