Indiana

Will voters oust Indiana Supreme Court justices over abortion decision on Election Day?

Published

1 year ago

October 21, 2024

Will voters oust Indiana Supreme Court justices over abortion decision on Election Day?

Voters in Indiana don’t get a direct say in who gets to serve on the Indiana Supreme Court, but they do get to weigh in this fall on whether some of those justices get to stay in their roles.

Three of five Indiana Supreme Court justices will be up for retention vote on Nov. 5. Voters will be asked whether Chief Justice Loretta Rush, Justice Mark Massa and Justice Derek Molter, all appointed under Republican governors, should serve additional terms.

While judge retention elections are typically sleepy affairs in Indiana, that isn’t true this year. The retention question has attracted more attention due to past court decisions: namely, upholding Indiana’s abortion ban.

The Indiana Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s near-total abortion ban in 2023 in a 4-1 decision. Molter wrote the opinion, to which Rush and Massa agreed, that the state has an interest in “protecting prenatal life” and that the Indiana General Assembly “retains broad legislative discretion for determining whether and the extent to which to prohibit abortions.”

That has led to a campaign against them from abortion-rights voters who want to make their displeasure heard over the court’s decision.

“Justices Rush, Massa, and Molter are responsible in part for Indiana’s abortion ban,” according to a Facebook post from MADVoters Indiana, an advocacy group that has been supporting Indiana’s Democratic candidates. “We can hold them accountable for their decision at the ballot box.”

Meanwhile, a group called the Committee to Preserve the Indiana Supreme Court recently launched to defend the records of Rush, Massa and Molter.

“The court’s body of work shows a dedication to the constitution and interpreting the law as written,” according to the group’s Facebook page. “You won’t find judicial activists on the Indiana Supreme Court. Because here, they interpret the law — they don’t write it.”

Who are the justices?

All of the justices on the Indiana Supreme Court were appointed by Republican governors after a merit selection process by a judicial commission. The three up for retention vote this fall are:

Chief Justice Loretta Rush: appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2012 and first retained by voters in 2014. She was named the state’s first woman chief justice in 2014. She was a longtime attorney in the Lafayette area and served as a superior court judge in Tippecanoe County. She has worked at the national level to address issues including courts’ responses to the mental health crisis through the Conference of Chief Justices and served as chair of the National Judicial Opioid Task Force.
Justice Mark Massa: appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2012 and first retained by voters in 2014. Massa started his career as a journalist in Indiana and then entered politics, serving under former Gov. Robert Orr. He then was a deputy prosecutor and an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Indiana. He also was part of the Daniels administration, serving as general counsel.
Derek Molter: appointed by Gov. Eric Holcomb in 2022. This is Molter’s first retention vote. He most recently served on the Court of Appeals and is from Newton County. He used to be a partner in Ice Miller law firm’s litigation practice group, where he worked on appeals in state and federal courts.

What is the judicial retention process?

Indiana’s judicial retention process serves as a “check on their performance” at periodic intervals, according to the Indiana Judicial branch website. It was put in place in 1970 after Indiana voters approved a constitutional amendment.

“Judges who are candidates for retention are not permitted to campaign or solicit public support or campaign funds unless there is organized opposition to their retention,” according to the Indiana Judicial Branch website.

If one or more of the judges is not retained, Indiana would use the judicial nomination commission to select a new lawyer, and the Indiana governor would make the appointment from a list of nominees by the commission.

“Once appointed, a justice or judge must stand for a retention election at the first statewide general election after the justice or judge had served for two full years and, if retained, every 10 years thereafter,” according to the Indiana Judicial Branch.

A referendum on abortion?

Some abortion-rights voters appear to be using the retention votes as a way to express displeasure over the state’s near total abortion ban.

The outcome of the retention vote wouldn’t directly impact the state’s ban, however. It could even backfire for abortion-rights voters, wrote Sheila Kennedy, an emerita law and public policy professor at Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, since a Republican governor would likely be in charge of the judicial nomination process, barring an upset win by Democratic governor candidate Jennifer McCormick.

“I share the anger of people who oppose Indiana’s ban, but our animus should be directed at the legislature–not at a court that, rightly or wrongly, held that the legislature had authority to act,” Kennedy wrote in a recent blog post.

Outgoing state Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, said in a Facebook post that he believed the justices are “always fair, unbiased and objective” even if he doesn’t agree with them.

“It’s quite possible that one or more of the justices might even have voted against the bill had they been in the legislature,” Torr said. “Their decision was not about whether the law was appropriate, but simply whether or not it was constitutional.”

What do Indiana lawyers think?

Hundreds of members of the Indiana State Bar Association expressed support for retaining all three judges in its latest retention poll, released Oct. 8.

Rush had the strongest support among those polled, with 88% of the 397 respondents voting saying she should be retained. Massa and Molter each had support of 84% of those polled.

“Lawyers are uniquely qualified to evaluate members of the judiciary, as it’s important to evaluate a judicial officer on their track record rather than a single ruling,” according to a press release from the bar association.

The poll, however, represents a small slice of lawyers in Indiana. There were 6,901 attorneys who were invited to take the poll and the organization has about 10,000 members.

Hayleigh Colombo is the senior government accountability reporter from IndyStar. She can be reached at hcolombo@indystar.com.

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Indiana

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti cashes in on title run with 8-year extension worth $13.2 million per year

Published

9 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti cashes in on title run with 8-year extension worth .2 million per year

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti is cashing in on his first national championship run — even more than initially expected.

Athletic department officials announced Monday that the two-time national coach of the year has signed a memorandum of understanding on an eight-year contract extension, paying him an annual average of $13.2 million — or an increase of about $1.6 million per year from what school officials said Cignetti would earn when he first agreed to the extension in October.

School officials released the document Cignetti signed Feb. 4.

He joins Georgia coach Kirby Smart and LSU coach Lane Kiffin as the only active Football Bowl Subdivision coaches to receive paychecks of $13 million or more. The payouts could be even higher if Cignetti earns bonuses for winning Big Ten or national coach of the year honors in addition to playoff appearances and conference titles. The 64-year-old Cignetti already has said he hopes to retire at Indiana.

The new deal calls for a base salary of $500,000 per year through the 2033 season and a $1 million retention bonus on Nov. 30 of each year, starting this fall. The remaining portion of the $105.6 million will be collected from outside, promotional and marketing income.

Cignetti initially agreed to an eight-year extension worth $92.8 million — an annual average of $11.6 million — but university officials agreed to modify the deal as the Hoosiers remained undefeated and pursued the first football national championship in school history.

It’s the third time Cignetti has received a raise since he took over the losingest program in FBS history in November 2024. All he’s done since arriving is produce the two best seasons in school history while becoming one of college football’s fan favorites for his quick quips and unique facial expressions. Players have embraced him, too, telling many of their favorite Cignetti tales.

Just ask tight end Riley Nowakowski, who recounted his favorite Cignetti story during the recent NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

“I think (Alberto Mendoza) was in the game, and he pulled like four runs in a row,” Nowakowski said, referring to last season’s victory over Illinois. “He kept pulling it, kept pulling it, kept pulling it, and then after the fourth time, it was a terrible read. So in the middle of the game, (Cignetti) tells our coach, ‘Get (Alberto) over here.’ Bert’s like, ‘What, it’s the middle of a game, what are you doing?’ And (Cignetti) goes, ‘We’re not paying you to run the ball, hand the ball off, right? We’re up like 70 points, but he’s pissed off, yelling at Bert, and (Cignetti) just turned back at me and gave me one of his little smiles, and he was just like, ’You like that now?’”

Cignetti wasted no time delivering on his promise to win after leading James Madison to the most successful transition from the Football Championship Subdivision to the FBS.

The son of Hall of Fame coach Frank Cignetti and a former Alabama assistant led Indiana to a school record 11 wins and its first College Football Playoff appearance in his first season with the Hoosiers.

Last season, he outdid that mark by producing the first 16-0 mark in major college football since the 1890s. The Hoosiers also won their first outright Big Ten crown since 1945, beat Miami on its home field to claim the national title and shed the label of having the most all-time losses in FBS history.

Mendoza’s older brother, Fernando, also became the first Indiana player to win the Heisman Trophy and is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL draft.

The reward: A record nine players, including Mendoza and Nowakowski, attended the recent combine in Indianapolis while Cignetti got another pay raise and school officials continued to invest heavily in keeping the coach’s staff together.

Offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines each agreed to three-year contract extensions worth about $3 million per year in December, making them two of the highest-paid assistants in the FBS. Haines won this year’s Broyles Award, which goes to the nation’s top assistant coach.

Indiana will begin next season with the longest winning streak (16) and longest home winning streak (15) in the FBS. Cignetti has never lost a home game with the Hoosiers, who open defense of their league and national titles at home against North Texas on Sept. 5.

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What Tom Izzo said after Michigan State’s win over Indiana

Published

21 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

What Tom Izzo said after Michigan State’s win over Indiana

Michigan State basketball went into Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon and controlled the Hoosiers from start to finish, earning a 77-64 victory. The win goes a long way in almost virtually confirming that the Spartans will have a triple-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, while also bolstering the Spartans case to get a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

For the second straight outing in the state of Indiana, MSU head coach Tom Izzo came away pleased with his group, and expressed that to the media:

“Well, to be honest with you, for once, we got off to a good start. We haven’t been doing that. We decided to try to go inside, Kohler (had) been struggling, we thought we’d try to get him going. We get that 10-point lead and it kind of stayed that way.
“We did not do a great job of building on it, it’s because they’re a good team. Everybody asks me, ‘Are they good enough to be in the tournament?’ Read my lips: hell yes. It’s just that somebody’s got to lose some of these games. The league is so good.”
“I’m proud of my guys, because coming back from that Thursday-Sunday deal, both on the road, I thought they showed a lot of character. I’m proud of my staff, those preps are not easy at this time of year. Kur came off the bench and really sparked us after making more than a few mistakes.”
“What I appreciated about the game is I thought Jeremy took over. Everything we asked him to run early, to go into Jaxon, he did a great job of. I thought Kur, who’s a sophomore now, took a big step forward after not playing very well the 5 minutes he was in there early and falling down and giving up 3s, and then he bounced back. That’s kind of what you’ve gotta do.”
“We did it a little different way. We said this will be kind of like the NCAA Tournament where you’ve got a one- or two-day prep, one-day prep, so I think it was good for us. I’m really proud of them, but I don’t want to be proud of them until I’m done playing.”
“All in all, guys, we’re in spring break, which means you can practice like 100 times, and nobody arrests you or anything. But our guys deserve some time off and we’ll get some things done tomorrow. “

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on X @Rex_Linzy

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Indiana

Coast Guard investigates death of mariner working barge in Jeffersonville

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Coast Guard investigates death of mariner working barge in Jeffersonville

U.S. Coast Guard officials are investigating March 1 after a mariner died while working on a barge in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

An incident involving the mariner occurred the afternoon of Feb. 27 at mile marker 597 of the Ohio River, said Lt. Cmdr. Steve Leighty, public affairs officer for the U.S. Coast Guard Ohio Valley Sector. Leighty declined to provide further details about the mariner and the circumstances of their death, citing the ongoing investigation.

Officials with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office are also investigating the incident, Leighty said.

Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at lbertucci@usatodayco.com or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter

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