Editorial Roundup: Indiana

Indianapolis Business Journal. June 10, 2022.

Editorial: Court ruling rightfully ends unnecessary GOP legal fight

A sad and blatantly unconstitutional chapter in the history of the Indiana General Assembly has thankfully come to a close, but not without wasting precious legislative and judicial time and hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

Last week, the Indiana Supreme Court rightfully and unanimously overturned a law unnecessarily passed by legislators more than a year ago that attempted to usurp the governor's constitutional authority to call the Legislature into a special session and give that power to the Legislature itself.

The law was passed by the GOP-dominated Legislature in response to a conservative uproar over executive orders that Gov. Eric Holcomb had issued to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. And although Holcomb's fellow Republican leaders in the Legislature said they supported the governor's handling of the pandemic, they opted for unconstitutional pandering to appease a conservative base. That faction wanted the Legislature to intervene when the governor opted to limit some business operations and public gatherings during the height of the health crisis and while the Legislature was not in session.

Thankfully, the state's high court-filled with fellow Republican appointees-saw right through the political shenanigans and overturned the law that was passed over the governor's veto and justifiably prompted Holcomb to sue.

In a unanimous opinion, Chief Justice Loretta Rush wrote that Holcomb's lawyers 'œsatisfied the high burden required to establish that the law is unconstitutional.'ť

'œUnder our Constitution, the General Assembly simply cannot do what the challenged law permits absent a constitutional amendment,'ť Rush added.

Despite the clear-cut and obvious outcome, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, whose office represented the Legislature in the dispute, still chided the court for its ruling.

'œThe court became a legislature today by overriding the intent of those who are directly elected by the people,'ť Rokita said in a statement.

The remarks are yet another apparent act of pandering to a conservative base when a statelier response is merited. In contrast, Republican House Speaker Todd Huston showed humility, saying he respected the court's ruling.

The great irony of this whole sad chapter, though, is that if Republican legislative leaders had truly wanted to serve the more conservative elements of the GOP, they could have simply passed laws to thwart the governor's health emergency orders during the 2021 legislative session. We're not saying they should have. And apparently they didn't want to.

Lawmakers also could have extended their regular legislative session beyond their established April deadline to keep a more careful watch over the governor's actions. The Supreme Court said as much, noting 'œthe General Assembly can set additional sessions-but only by fixing their length and frequency in a law passed during a legislative session and presented to the Governor.'ť

Instead, Republican legislative leadership tried to be too cute by half, taking state taxpayers on an unnecessary judicial ride that forced them to pay for legal representation on both sides of this court case'“$519,000 for the governor's lawyers and whatever time and money was spent by the attorney general to represent the Legislature.

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Anderson Herald Bulletin. June 11, 2022.

Editorial: Time to take a stand, Sens. Young and Braun

Indiana's two U.S. senators, Todd Young and Mike Braun, are in deep with the National Rifle Association.

Young has received $2,897,582 in support from the NRA. Only seven current senators have gotten more.

Braun isn't far behind. He's enjoyed a $1,249,967 NRA windfall, ranking 16th in the Senate.

While Braun isn't up for reelection until 2024, Young is running for his second six-year term this fall, against Democrat Thomas McDermott.

Young has expressed a willingness to work with Senate Democrats on gun control in the aftermath of the May 24 school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But given his deep ties to the NRA, he's unlikely to follow through with support of any meaningful measures.

A package of commonsense gun control measures, known as the Protecting Our Kids Act, has already passed the House of Representatives.

The legislation would require purchasers of semiautomatic rifles to be at least 21 years of age, would ban ammunition magazines holding more than 15 rounds, would beef up regulation of gun storage in homes and would strengthen the regulatory ban on bump stocks, devices that effectively turn semiautomatics into automatic weapons.

Now, seriously, who in their right mind would vote against these mild measures, particularly in the United States, where mass shootings happen far more frequently than in any other developed country not torn by war?

The answer, tragically, is the vast majority of Republicans in Congress.

And all of them are way out of touch with Americans, who consistently express support for stricter gun control laws.

Most recently, an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll posed this question: 'œDo you think it's more important to control gun violence or to protect gun rights?'ť

Fifty-nine percent of respondents chose controlling gun violence; just 35% opted for protecting gun rights (the remaining 6% were undecided). Perhaps most tellingly, 56% of gun owners said gun control is more important.

Seemingly, Braun, Young and their Senate GOP brethren care more about the whims of the NRA, which represents gun manufacturers, than about what Americans demand.

Here, before Republican senators, lies an opportunity to change that narrative, to side with children and other innocents who are among the tens of thousands of Americans killed each year by guns.

The Protecting Our Kids Act wouldn't enact drastic measures like the gun reform bill poised to pass in Canada. That measure would freeze the sale of handguns and create a mandatory buyback program for assault-style rifles. The U.S. package is far from an affront to the Second Amendment.

Muster the courage, Mr. Young and Mr. Braun, to turn your backs on the NRA and to break ranks with your party. Follow where your conscience and humanity surely must lead you.

Don't reject this bill or conspire to water it down. Vote yes.

Now is the time for courage, not politics.

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Terre Haute Tribune-Star. June 9, 2022.

Editorial: Indiana misses mark on election priorities

Indiana's secretary of state, Holli Sullivan, is again touting the state's post-election auditing system, this time as officials begin examining results of the May primary.

It's good that Indiana shows concern for the vote-counting process. Citizens should expect that to be standard practice in the exercise of good government.

It's unsettling, however, that Secretary Sullivan is particularly enamored with post-election auditing in wake of former President Donald Trump's false claims of widespread election fraud during the 2020 election. Trump's 'œBig Lie'ť has created significant strain on the foundations of American democracy. Rather than fueling concerns that state elections 'œmight'ť be problematic, elected officials such as Sullivan would be wise to flex their vocal chords by repeating the truthful refrain that Indiana's election system has no vote-counting problems, nor has there been any evidence of such in the past.

This does not suggest that there are no problems on Indiana's electoral landscape that need aggressive attention. There are. Too few people bother to vote. Weak voter participation does not serve democracy well. The state ranks among the worst in voter turnout nationwide and shows no particular interest in taking steps to make voting easier and more accessible to greater numbers of people.

Sullivan, of course, is a member of Trump's Republican Party. A sizable segment of Republicans subscribe to the former president's claim that the last election was stolen from him. Meanwhile, Republican state legislators across the country have been passing laws in recent months to make voting far more difficult in an effort to suppress voter turnout in the future. They claim they do it on behalf of restoring integrity and confidence in the voting process. Sound familiar?

Indiana can't do much more to lock down voter access. The state has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country. Voter registration ends a month before every election. Election Day voting is only open for 12 hours, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Absentee voting is tightly controlled and requires a 'œqualified'ť excuse. And while early voting is offered, locations and times are limited.

Several states, including some controlled by Republicans, offer election systems that are far more voter-friendly. Voting by mail has been shown to be safe and secure in those areas. It has in Indiana as well. In the 2020 primary election, during the opening months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state relaxed its absentee voting procedures and conducted a highly successful election with no problems. Yet it refused to repeat that process in the general election.

Sullivan can tout the state's balloting audits all she wants to underscore that Indiana conducts safe and secure elections. Fact is, every other state has safe and secure elections as well. And a number of those also do much more to assure greater voter access and participation than Indiana does. This state, despite its vote audits, falls far short in encouraging and facilitating the essential practice of offering a voter-friendly election process.

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