[Updated] Here is a longer version of the AP story quoted below.
"Case on Fort Wayne Airport Board Could Affect Hundreds of Laws" is the headline to a brief AP story today on the WISHTV Indianapolis site:
The Indiana Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments this month in a lawsuit that could potentially render hundreds of state laws unconstitutional.The oral argument is scheduled for Dec. 20, 2004 at 9:45 a.m.
The lawsuit brought by backers of a small airport argues that the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport authority is illegal because it was created by special legislation. If the court agrees, its ruling could affect more than 500 state laws benefiting specific communities or counties.
The state constitution states that laws should be uniform across the state. However, lawmakers have skirted that uniformity principle by using population parameters instead of the specific name of a jurisdiction to write laws benefiting specific areas.
The State Supreme Court sanctioned that approach until January 2003, in a ruling that could now be used to strike down a law that's been on the books for years.
Earlier ILB reports on the Supreme Court's grant of emergency transfer in this important case, plus analysis and a link to the initial, 6/28/04 decision of the Allen Circuit Court, are available here: 9/22/04 and 9/21/04
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Note: Three oral arguments (unrelated to the above) are set for tomorrow, Thursday, December 2nd before the Supreme Court:
10:35 am - Fraternal Order of Police v. Evansville [Statutory interpretation] (access IBL summary and case link here; 1st case)Posted by Marcia Oddi at December 1, 2004 05:00 PM9:45 am - A.C. Crabtree v. Estate of Crabtree [Insurance] (access IBL summary and case link here; 2nd case)
9:00 am - Jedediah Haltom v. State [Restitution order] (access IBL summary and case link here; 3rd case)