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Ballot initiative amendment defeat expected but still disappointing – Indiana Capital Chronicle

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Ballot initiative amendment defeat expected but still disappointing – Indiana Capital Chronicle


I knew the amendment would fail before Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, even began speaking. That’s how it works with Democrat amendments in a chamber where Republicans have a supermajority.

But I was interested in the debate on whether Indiana should consider allowing citizens to initiate a statewide ballot question, whether for a law or constitutional change. In Indiana, only legislators can do so.

Sen. Sue Errington, D-Muncie. (Photo from Indiana House Democrats)

Errington’s proposed amendment to a House elections bill would have placed a non-binding public question on the November ballot: “Shall citizens be allowed to initiate a ballot referendum in Indiana?”

The amendment was easily defeated 27-66, with every Republican who voted opposing the measure.

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Think about that. It was non-binding. Advisory. Guidance only. And House Republicans don’t want to hear what you have to say.

Errington said more and more citizens have asked her why Indiana doesn’t have the same rights as citizens in other states like Ohio to initiate change that lawmakers won’t do on their own.

It mostly comes up in the context of legalizing marijuana and protecting access to abortion.

Errington quoted public, well-respected polling showing Hoosiers want both by significant margins.

“Is it any wonder that the people in this state are losing confidence in us to make laws that reflect their views?” she asked. “Is it any wonder that they are losing interest in voting when their legislators don’t listen to them after they have been elected? And when their legislators actually do the opposite?”

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Ohio is one of 19 states that allow direct ballot initiatives, either for laws or constitutional amendments. Voters in Michigan and Illinois also have that option.

GOP disapproval

But Republicans spoke against the amendment.

Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Berne, said Indiana’s founders were smart enough to set up a representative government instead of putting every issue on the ballot and getting nothing done.

“(Voters) do weigh in. It’s called an election. And that is how we change things in this body, is through elections,” he said.

Rep. Tim Wesco, R-Osceola, said the statewide public question would be an unprecedented “waste of Hoosier’s time and attention.”

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He also noted it should be hard to change the state constitution, and I have to agree. But you can create a direct ballot system that gives a path to citizen-led initiatives with a bar high enough to deter constant upheaval.

In Ohio, for instance, petitions for a constitutional change must be gathered from 44 of the state’s 88 counties. And the number of petitions is equal to 10% of votes cast for governor in previous election. That meant more than 413,000 signatures for a recent abortion initiative.

That is a ton of work to achieve and means it won’t be used on every little issue-of-the-day. For comparison, Indiana is considered to have a strong signature requirement to run for governor or Senate, in which a candidate must collect 500 signatures from all nine congressional districts. That’s only a total of 4,500.

Perhaps House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, said it best: “I am not scared of what the voters have to say. You shouldn’t be either.”

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Indiana AG seeks execution date for death row inmate convicted in 2010 killings of two children

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Indiana AG seeks execution date for death row inmate convicted in 2010 killings of two children


Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita on Wednesday asked the Indiana Supreme Court to schedule the execution of death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit.

The filing came just eight days after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in Weisheit’s case.

He was sentenced to death in 2012 for the murders of 5-year-old Caleb Lynch and his 8-year-old sister, Alyssa Lynch, who were killed in a Vanderburgh County house fire in 2010.

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In a verified motion filed with the state’s high court, attorneys for the state argued that Weisheit has exhausted all available avenues of review and that no active stay remains in place to prevent his execution.

The state requested that the court set an execution date 30 to 45 days after granting the motion.

“For more than 15 years, the family of these two innocent children has waited for justice,” Rokita said in a Wednesday statement. “A jury lawfully convicted Weisheit and sentenced him to death. That sentence has been upheld through every level of the judicial system. It is long past time to carry out the sentence.”

Weisheit killed the children during the early morning hours of April 10, 2010, according to court records. Prosecutors said he “hog-tied” Caleb and placed railroad flares in the boy’s underwear before igniting them and fleeing the home. Alyssa was also inside the residence when the fire spread through the house, killing both children.

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Authorities later apprehended Weisheit in Kentucky after a high-speed chase. Court records indicate he threw a knife at pursuing officers before being taken into custody.

A Vanderburgh County jury convicted Weisheit in 2012 of two counts of murder and recommended a death sentence after finding multiple aggravating circumstances, including that both victims were younger than 12 years old. The trial court subsequently imposed the death penalty.

The case has spent more than a decade moving through state and federal courts.

The Indiana Supreme Court upheld Weisheit’s convictions and death sentence in 2015. His request for post-conviction relief was later denied, and the state’s high court affirmed that decision in 2018.

Weisheit then turned to federal court, filing a habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in 2020. The petition was denied in 2022, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the decision last August before rejecting a rehearing request the following month.

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The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case on June 8.



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Indiana mom killed protecting son during Facebook Marketplace robbery, 18-year-old suspect arrested

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Indiana mom killed protecting son during Facebook Marketplace robbery, 18-year-old suspect arrested


A heroic Indiana mother was killed when she stepped in between her son and an 18-year-old gunman who had pulled a firearm on them during a Facebook marketplace sale.

Jean Gragg, 40, and her teenage son were selling a watch to prospective buyer John Ford during an arranged meet-up on the front porch of their Edison Park, Ind., home near the University of Notre Dame on June 10, South Bend Police said.

Gragg’s son had planned to sell the watch to Ford just before 10 p.m.

Jean Gragg died days after she was shot in the head during a robbery while her son was selling a watch he listed on Facebook Marketplace on June 10, 2026. GoFundMe

Family friends said the exchange was common for Gragg’s son, who has made sales through Facebook Marketplace “many times before.”

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Ford allegedly pulled out a handgun while he was inspecting the timepiece.

“When Jean stepped in to support her son, the man went over the edge,” family friend Debra McKinley wrote on a GoFundMe.

Gragg, an office manager for H&R Block, wedged herself between the two teens and pushed the suspected gunman away and off her property.

Ford allegedly fired multiple shots at Gragg, who was walking up her driveway back to her home as her horrified family watched.

She was struck in the head by one of the rounds.

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John Ford was charged with murder in the deadly shooting that killed Jean Gragg on June 10, 2026. St. Joseph County Jail
Gragg was remembered as a caring person who loved her son up to her death. GoFundMe

Nearby security cameras captured Gragg falling to the ground as Ford ran away, according to court records viewed by WSBT.

Gragg was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition before she was declared brain-dead. She was taken off life support by 6 p.m. on June 13, McKinley said.

“My superhero,” Gragg’s son told WNDU.

Gragg was remembered as a traveler who enjoyed spending time with her son and friends.

“She was a nurturer, if anyone close to her was sick, you could count on her to take excellent care of you,” her family said in an online obituary. “Jean was a dedicated, wonderful mother, very loving and caring, always putting her son first down to her very last breath. (He) was her whole world.”

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Gragg was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition before she was declared brain-dead. She was taken off life support by 6 p.m. on June 13. GoFundMe

Ford was tracked down to an apartment complex 2 miles from the scene of the shooting.

Police had also found the suspected gun dumped over a fence at the complex.

Ford allegedly admitted to shooting at Gragg during an interview with police.

He has been charged with murder, attempted murder and robbery in the shooting.

Ford is being held at the St. Joseph County Jail without bond, according to police.

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‘My whole body did not feel right’: Indiana residents protest data center projects

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‘My whole body did not feel right’: Indiana residents protest data center projects


Protesters in Merrillville, Indiana, gathered outside a private event for Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to voice concerns about data centers. Fox Chicago’s Bret Buganski reports live from the demonstration.

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