Events, judicial appointments, and other highlights

Events

Justice Goff speaks at Law Day rally

Justice Christopher Goff and other distinguished speakers delivered remarks at the Indianapolis Bar Association’s inaugural Law Day Rally on May 1 on the plaza of the Birch Bayh Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse. Law Day was established in 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a day of national dedication to the principles of government under law. According to IndyBar, the rally was intended to provide a vital opportunity for attendees (including attorneys, judges and staff of the appellate courts, paralegals, and law students) to emphasize the rule of law, protect judicial independence, uphold the independence of the legal profession, and promote non-partisan and non-violent action.

Justice Molter Celebrates Law Day in the Supreme Court Law Library

From April 29 to May 1, the Supreme Court Law Library celebrated Law Day by presenting highlights from the library’s rare book collection to four groups of state employees. A total of 61 attendees saw, learned about, and handled a selection of books that ranged in date from 1565 to 1896. These included European, colonial American, and Native American legislation and legal writing, as well as books owned by prominent historical individuals. Justice Derek Molter provided introductory remarks at two of the sessions, expressing his appreciation that staff from all three branches of state government had gathered to celebrate the rule of law.

Chief Justice Rush addresses IU McKinney School of Law graduates

Chief Justice Loretta Rush delivered the commencement address at IU McKinney’s graduation ceremony on May 18. Held at the Everwise Amphitheater in White River State Park, the ceremony honored 246 graduates of IU McKinney’s Doctor of Jurisprudence, Doctor of Judicial Science, Master of Jurisprudence, and Master of Laws degree programs. In her remarks, Chief Justice Rush encouraged graduates to be hopeful, to work toward fighting the injustices they feel called to address, and to remember to identify common ground. “As lawyers,” she reminded the audience, “society is depending on you to lead the way to reformative justice, not retribution.”

Spring Judicial and Justice Services Conferences run concurrently in Indianapolis

The 2025 Spring Judicial Conference was held April 15-17 at the Indiana Convention Center. It ran concurrently with the Justice Services Conference, presenting judicial officers with the opportunity to “choose their own adventure” by creating a schedule that aligned with their interests and learning goals. The conferences merged for a shared plenary session, in which writer, producer, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Shapiro discussed what Abraham Lincoln could still teach us today about leading legendary lives.

This year, the Spring Judicial Conference welcomed 426 people to attend 22 breakout sessions. For the first time, the conference offered both 2.5 hour in-depth workshops and 75-minute fast-track sessions. This format was well-received by attendees who noted that they were able to select from a wider array of topics, including AI for judicial officers, hearsay rules, and judicial ethics in employment discrimination.

The Justice Services Conference was attended by over 1,100 professionals working in the criminal justice field including probation officers, certified court alcohol and drug program staff, pretrial service agency staff, community corrections officers, and supervising judges. With such a large and varied audience, the topics offered also covered a wide variety of interests such as language access, incorporating peer recovery support into treatment courts, effective strategies for pretrial services, understanding neurodivergence, and veterans with complex PTSD. The latter two topics were particularly successful, earning feedback such as “Information on veterans was very useful. It made me wish we utilized our veterans court more often and wish I would get more information about it from a local level. Lots of good information with session on neurodivergence.”

During and after the Justice Services Conference, Chief Justice Loretta Rush recognized a total of forty-one individual probation officers. Gregory Werich, the Chief Probation Officer of Wells County, was awarded the Order of Augustus in recognition of his outstanding commitment and personal dedication to the profession of probation. Werich was nominated for this award by members of his community and ultimately selected for recognition by the Probation Officer Advisory Board.

An additional 40 probation officers celebrated their 25 years of service in the profession with an award:

Judicial appointments

Lake County

Governor Mike Braun appointed Lake County Circuit Court Referee Daniel Burke to the Lake County Superior Court. As a referee, Burke managed the filings for the Lake County Circuit Court docket and presided over dissolution of marriage cases, petitions for protective orders, and civil cases. Prior to this, he appeared in court daily as the Lake County Deputy Prosecutor, handling felonies including murder and other high-profile crimes. Burke earned his undergraduate degree from DePauw University and his Juris Doctorate from Valparaiso University.

Tippecanoe County/Commercial Courts

Tippecanoe Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Moore has been appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court to serve as a commercial court judge. Moore was elected in 2020 as the first judge in the newly-created Tippecanoe Superior Court 7. He is the eleventh judge to be appointed to the commercial courts, joining others presiding in Allen, Floyd, Elkhart, Hamilton, Lake, Madison, Marion, St. Joseph, Vanderburgh, and Vigo counties. Indiana’s commercial courts were created nine years ago to increase accuracy and efficiency in commercial litigation cases. Each of the 11 judges appointed to them have experience in complex case management and business law.

Highlights

“All Rise” brings color to successful Little Free Courthouse Library initiative

In 2024, a group of Court of Appeals judges and Supreme Court justices were inspired by Kim Michele Richardson’s book, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, to bring little free courthouse libraries to Indiana. Following the successful launch of 14 libraries in county courthouses across the state, the group has partnered with the Indianapolis Bar Association to provide another way to brighten families’ experiences of coming to court. A free coloring book titled “All Rise: Stand-Up Women in Hoosier History” highlights influential Indiana women and is available to include in both existing and forthcoming little free courthouse libraries. If you wish to start a little free library in your courthouse, request copies of the coloring book, or donate books to the little free library initiative, contact [email protected].

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Judges teach civics to Allen County sixth graders

Allen Superior Court Judge Jennifer DeGroote, Senior Judge Thomas Felts, and U.S. District Court Judge Holly Brady each paid a visit to St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Fort Wayne to teach three classes of sixth grade civics students. On their respective visits, Judge DeGroote taught about the differences between civil and criminal law, Judge Brady explained the differences between federal and state law, and Judge Felts covered statutory construction and interpretation. The students’ interest and engagement levels were high, and their teacher has already invited the judges back for the next academic year.

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Judges visit Beech Grove High School

Judge Cheryl Rivera and Magistrate Stefanie Crawford visited Beech Grove High School to speak to two dual credit government classes taught by social studies teacher Gesina Lilaj. The judicial officers were met with great interest by the students with whom they discussed the purpose and structure of Indiana’s judicial system.

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Grants for high-tech fingerprint machines at jails

With funding from grant awards, the Indiana Office of Court Technology will be able to provide livescan fingerprinting machines worth a combined two million dollars to county jails and sheriff’s departments. IOCT has at least until the end of 2026 to distribute the 75 machines for which funding has been approved.

In 2024 and 2025, the Office of Judicial Administration submitted successful applications to the National Criminal History Improvement Program. NCHIP allows the Bureau of Justice Statistics to provide direct awards to states seeking to improve the quality, timeliness, and immediate accessibility of criminal history records. With this funding, Indiana counties will be able to select one of two vendors through which to replace their existing fingerprinting machines with livescan machines that send arrest information to the Indiana State Police’s criminal history repository—an integral component of the new INjail application developed by OJA.

Awards

Three distinguished barristers

The Indiana Lawyer honored three judicial branch leaders with its Leadership in Law Awards. Marion County Judges Amy Jones and Marc Rothenberg were among the 17 attorneys named Distinguished Barristers, along with Stephanie Bibbs, Deputy Director of Litigation at the Indiana Office of Judicial and Attorney Regulation. Congratulations to all three of them for being recognized for their outstanding dedication to law and justice in Indiana.