Indiana legislative committee to study illegal entry ruling

6-7-2011 Indiana:

Indiana legislative leaders on Tuesday appointed a special committee to analyze and recommend possible changes to state law in light of an Indiana Supreme Court decision that Hoosiers don't have the right to resist police officers who enter

Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, will chair the committee and said he wants to determine whether the General Assembly can pass a law overturning the controversial ruling or narrowing its impact.

“The citizens of Indiana are very upset with this decision,” Steele said Tuesday after a meeting of the Legislative Council, a group of House and Senate leaders who oversee non-session legislative issues.

The council on Tuesday assigned dozens of topics to existing and new summer study committees, which will make recommendations for the 2012 session of the General Assembly. Among the issues to be examined:

* Right-to-work. The Indiana House considered so-called right-to-work legislation this year that would let employees opt out of paying dues or fees to unions, even if the groups represent them. The bill died when House Democrats walked out for five weeks in protest, but GOP leaders said then they wanted the issue studied before the 2012 session.

* Redistricting. A committee will consider whether lawmakers should turn the task of drawing new congressional and state legislative maps after each decennial Census over to an independent commission. That would require a constitutional amendment unless lawmakers retained final say over the maps.

* Sentencing changes. The Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Committee will consider whether Indiana should revamp its criminal penalties and alternative sentencing programs in light of a study that recommended changes. Gov. Mitch Daniels backs some significant changes in theft and drug sentences, but the ideas failed during the 2011 session.

* Inheritance tax. The State Tax and Financing Policy Commission will look at the advantages and disadvantages of phasing out the state’s inheritance tax.

Few of the issues that will be considered this summer have caused as much uproar as the Indiana Supreme Court’s 3-2 ruling in May concerning Hoosiers’ rights to defend their homes against illegal entry by police.

The decision came in a case in which a man was convicted of misdemeanor resisting law enforcement for shoving an officer who tried to enter his home without a warrant. The police were responding to a 911 call about a domestic disturbance.

The ruling did not expand when it’s legal for police to enter a home. Instead, it focused on the homeowner’s right to resist an illegal intrusion. In its decision, the court said that permitting homeowners to try to block police entry could lead to an escalation of the dispute that could eventually result in violence.

But critics of the decision say it has overturned hundreds of years of common law precedent and Steele said it contradicts a law the General Assembly passed two years ago that is meant to strengthen Hoosiers’ rights to protect their homes.

The reaction to the decision has been strong. Opponents have called for voters to oust Supreme Court Justice Steven David, who wrote the majority opinion in the case, by voting “no” on a retention question that will be on the 2012 ballot.

Many — including House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne — also have called for the court to reconsider and narrow the ruling.

Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, will serve on the new four-member committee charged with evaluating the court’s decision and said Tuesday that it’s appropriate for lawmakers to review the case, particularly given the passion with which Hoosiers have reacted to the ruling.

“In most complicated legal matters, there are certainly two sides,” Lanane said. “It’s a balancing act. There’s obviously a strong interest in the rights of an individual to protect one’s home. There’s also an interest, though, in law enforcement having certain abilities to breach the security of a home — if they have probable cause, if they are cognizant of the long standing recognized laws that protect our liberties.”

Steele said the four-member, bipartisan committee will begin meeting soon and should make a report to legislators this fall. ..Source.. by Lesley Stedman