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Monday, March 15, 2004

Indiana Law - How Governor Orr Helped Shape the Indiana Supreme Court

"Orr's vision helped shape state's Supreme Court: Former governor led the charge to give court more say over what cases it hears," reads the headline to this great story topping the front page of the City&State section of today's (3/15/04) Indianapolis Star. Some quotes:

Before Robert D. Orr's appointees helped change the Supreme Court's mission, Indiana's justices spent virtually all of their time churning out decisions in criminal cases that often read like True Detective magazine stories. Criminal appeals choked the court's docket, leaving little time for family law, malpractice claims and other matters affecting ordinary Hoosiers. And the Indiana Constitution required them to rule on each and every one.

Orr, 86, died last week. For more than a decade, he watched with satisfaction as the Supreme Court evolved into a judicial body that could more freely tackle civil litigation. * * *

[T]he Evansville politician's legacy includes shaking up the court in 1985 with the appointment of Randall T. Shepard, then a little-known, 38-year-old Evansville judge. A year later, Orr elevated another whippersnapper to the graying court, Brent E. Dickson, then a 44-year-old Lafayette attorney. Both had sharp legal minds and the desire to make changes.

"Bob Orr was very eager to break up what was seen as an old boys' network," said John Hammond, an Indianapolis attorney and former aide to Orr, the nation's oldest governor while in office from 1981 to 1989.

After Orr pushed hard to ensure Shepard became chief justice in 1987, Shepard charted a different course for the court. The justices began deciding more civil cases and taking more of an interest in long-ignored rights and privileges afforded by the state Constitution. Today, the high court's legal reasoning is widely cited by federal courts and by appellate courts in other states.

Read the story for much more.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 15, 2004 07:34 AM
Posted to Indiana Law