On Friday, October 5, 2018, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the Indiana State Bar Association Latino Affairs Committee will welcome Dr. Adi G. Martínez Román, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Access to Justice Fund Foundation as the keynote speaker at their second annual Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana will host the event at 2:00 pm in the Sarah Evans Barker Courtroom (courtroom 216) at the Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse, 46 East Ohio Street, Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Martínez Román will speak about the challenges presented by Hurricane Maria and ways in which the legal community was able to provide relief.

Please see the Press Release for full details and registration information. 

Bankruptcy Judge Basil Lorch, III, is retiring soon.  The Seventh Circuit seeks candidates for his replacment.  For more information, please read the announcement linked below.

  Notice Re: Bankruptcy Judge Position

The Historical Society of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana is excited to announce that its documentary film And Justice for All: Indiana’s Federal Courts has been nominated for two Emmy Awards by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Lower Great Lakes Region.
 

The film is nominated in the Documentary – Historical, and Musical Composition/Arrangement. Winners will be announced at the 49th Annual Emmy Awards ceremony on Saturday, June 23, 2018.
 

The film can be viewed in its entirety online; DVD copies are also available free of charge to educators (while supplies last) by contacting Doria Lynch at Doria_Lynch@insd.uscourts.gov. A classroom version of the film and a Teacher’s Guide are also available and provide in-class and take-home activities relating to the film.
 

In addition to providing an overview of the history of Indiana’s federal courts, the film portrays the events surrounding three cases of historical significance:

• Ex parte Milligan, in which Indiana’s federal court played a role in answering the Constitutional question of whether civilians are eligible for prosecution by a military tribunal when civilian courts are open. This Civil War-era case made its way to the Supreme Court of the United States.
   

• United States v. Ryan, et al., a case involving members of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers who were prosecuted for their roles in allegedly having conspired to bomb their way to the bargaining table, resulting in the deaths of 21 people at the The Los Angeles Times and thousands of dollars in property damage. The 1912 conspiracy trial lasted three months and brought international media attention to Indianapolis.
   
• United States v. Board of School Commissioners of the City of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Public Schools desegregation case that began in 1968 and continued until 2016, when the busing order of Judge S. Hugh Dillin finally expired.

The film was produced by Gudaitis Production, a documentary and educational film production company, led by David Gudaitis, Ph.D., Alan Backler, Ph.D., and Larry Laswell, M.A.
 

The film was made possible by the contributions of members and sponsors of the Historical Society of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, an Indiana Historical Society Heritage Support Grant made possible by Lilly Endowment Inc., the Indiana Bar Foundation, and the R. B. Annis Educational Foundation. 

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (April 10, 2018): The Honorable Jane E. Magnus-Stinson, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that a formal swearing-in ceremony for United States Magistrate Judge Doris L. Pryor will be held on Friday, April 13, 2018, at 2:00 EDT at the Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. Chief Judge Magnus-Stinson will preside over the en banc ceremony in the William E. Steckler Ceremonial Courtroom (courtroom 202).
 
Judge Pryor previously served as the National Security Chief for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana from September 2014 until mid-February 2018. From August 2006 until her appointment as National Security Chief, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. From August 2005 through August 2006, Judge Pryor served as a Deputy Public Defender in the State of Arkansas Public Defender’s Commission. She also has served two terms as a law clerk, for Judge J. Leon Holmes in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas (August 2004-August 2005), and for Chief Judge Lavenski Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (August 2003-August 2004).
 
Born in Hope, Arkansas, Judge Pryor graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1999 from the University of Central Arkansas, where she majored in political science. She obtained her law degree from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2003 and was admitted to the bar the same year. Judge Pryor has since been admitted to practice in numerous state and federal courts, including Indiana.
 
Judge Pryor’s caseload is drawn from the Indianapolis and Terre Haute divisions. Like the other magistrate judges in the Southern District of Indiana, she conducts various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings in civil cases on delegation from a district judge and presides over trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants. After a period of recusal, she will also conduct preliminary proceedings in criminal cases and preside over trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases. Magistrate Judges are appointed by the Judges of the United States District Courts for terms of eight years, and are eligible for reappointment to successive terms.
 
The investiture ceremony is a public event, but seating is limited. Photography will be permitted during the program. If you would like to send a photographer and/or reporter to cover the ceremony, or if you have other questions, please contact Deputy Clerk Doria Lynch at 317-229-3729 or Doria_lynch@insd.uscourts.gov.