New Ind. laws

Every year, new laws that have gone through the Indiana State Senate go into effect July 1. This year, 115 new laws, which address issues such as property rights and drunk driving, will affect the lives of Hoosiers.

Some prisoners might receive shorter stints with ‘credit time’

In April 2007, a riot at the New Castle Correctional Facility in New Castle, Ind., made national headlines.

The incident led to the injuries of two prison staff members and seven inmates — and was started in protest to a move of prisoners from an overcrowded Arizona facility to New Castle.

In part to fight such overcrowding, State Enrolled Act No. 415 was passed July 1.

The new law allows parole boards to shorten the sentences of certain nonviolent offenders who complete approved degree or community re-entry programs.

To be considered for early release, prisoners must have been incarcerated for at least 21 consecutive years and have completed the equivalent to four years of what the text of the law deemed “credit time” — a college degree, GED, high school diploma or other approved community transition program, according to the law.

Indiana correctional facilities are not only overcrowded, but expensive, State Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, said on his website.

“Every year of incarceration costs taxpayers at least $20,000 per inmate,” Kruse said on his website.

Because prisoners can now be released earlier than stated by their original sentences, much tax money could be saved.

But some in Bloomington see another benefit to providing prisoners with education.

“I feel like the purpose of the criminal justice system, originally, is to be a system of rehabilitation — not a pen to throw people in,” said Taylor Dean, a volunteer at the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project.

Pages to Prisoners is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Bloomington that provides books to inmates in Midwest prisons.

The goal of the organization is to promote self-education among prisoners, Dean said.

“We start by opening a letter from an inmate and try to figure out what the prisoner would like to receive,” she said.

The element of choice is very important to Dean, whose only concern was that the law might not allow prisoners to choose their courses of study, a detail the law did not specify.

“When they’re able to be engaged, that betters anyone as a person,” she said.

— Katie Knish

‘Drew’s Law’ changes drunk driving policies

Indiana legislators have tightened the penalties for drunk drivers while enforcing constituents to protect expectant mothers.

And the stricter law is thanks in part to the efforts of one woman.

On New Year’s Eve 2007, Danielle Brookshire was driving home on Wernle Road in Richmond, Ind., when Ronald Berry, a drunk driver, hit her car in a head-on collision. The resulting accident sent Brookshire into a three-week coma and resulted in the loss of her unborn child.

The hospital where both Brookshire and Berry were sent did not take a blood sample from Berry to determine his level of intoxication. Therefore, Berry was not convicted of a felony.

During the summer of 2010, Brookshire contacted State Sen. Allen Paul, R-Richmond, and became the catalyst for changing the drunk driving penalties.

“Danielle gave me a call and asked that I consider carrying a bill that would do what she wanted to get done to the Indiana Law,” Paul said.

The bill, called “Drew’s Law” in honor of Brookshire’s unborn child, makes it an aggravated offense to unlawfully terminate another’s pregnancy by driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

To ensure the bill’s approval by the state, Paul made it very clear that no other amendments were to be attached to Drew’s Law.

“In January, it was one of the first bills heard in the Senate, and we wanted it to go fast because it was going to be a touchy session,” Paul said.

Drew’s Law got the full support of both Democrats and Republicans in the legislature, Paul said.

“It would have killed the bill if other amendments had been placed on it,” Paul said.

It is one of the only bills that passed through without debate.

“I’ve received no negative comments and no negative mail,” Paul said. “I’ve had people stop me in the grocery store and say, ‘Hey, this is great.’”

— Allie Cooper

Sweet 16 no longer means nice new ride

Sixteen-year-olds in Indiana now have to wait even longer before they can get behind the wheel.

On July 1, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles announced that new drivers are no longer allowed to get a permit or begin formal classroom training until they are at least 15 years and 180 days old — instead of the old requirement of simply being 15.

The law also states that Indiana teenagers now have to wait until they are 16 years and 180 days old and log at least 50 hours of driving time to obtain an official driver’s license.

Officials in the BMV said the new license guidelines are meant to give teenagers more practice time behind the wheel, said Valerie Lindsey, owner of Bloomington Driving School.

“This law is giving students more practice time behind the wheel,” Lindsey said.

Driving schools statewide protested the BMV changing the age requirements for the permit, Lindsey said.

“If they were going to make a law change, keep acquiring a permit at 15, and teens shouldn’t get their license until they were 16 and six months,” Lindsey said.

By making the minimum permit age 15 years and 180 days old, driving time with the parents is being taken away, Lindsey said.

“As students get older, they practice less with parents,” she said.

Individuals enrolled in Indiana driving schools require 30 classroom hours and six hours of driving, a minimum that does not give students enough necessary experience to get behind the wheel of a car, Lindsey said.

“We rely on the parents to give additional practice between lessons because they are the ones that continue good driving habits,” she said.

—Allie Cooper

Tanning gets taxed

Indiana tanning salon owners have a new migraine settling in.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act it will increase the excise tax on using tanning beds by 10 percent, a change likely to hurt tanning salon businesses.

“It’s terrible,” said Randy Tran, manager of The Sun Factory. “It’s unfair to the tanning salons.”

President Barack Obama approved the tax in March. It is anticipated that the U.S. government will generate about $3 billion within the upcoming decade to help pay for the $940 billion federal health care renovation.

“While we support health care reform, we strongly disagree with the concept of raising revenue to pay for reform from those who can least afford it — in the middle of a deep recession, no less,” Keenan Gill, district manager of A Total Tan of Bloomington, said in an e-mail.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, the money will be accumulated as an excise tax, which will escalate the price of a good before it is purchased. Cigarettes, gas and alcohol are other frequent excise-taxed goods.

“No other service tax has a 10 percent tax,” Tran said. “If anything, they should have made the tax the same as sales tax. ... I just feel bad for the people who have to pay it.”

Gail Lawrence, owner of the Perfect Illusion Salon, said she will be getting rid of her four tanning beds because of the increase in the excise tax on tanning.

Some groups such as The Skin Cancer Foundation predict that the tax will deter people from tanning. According to the foundation, tanning increases the chance of developing melanoma by 74 percent.

But health threats aren’t stopping people from getting a tan. Though less than a month has passed since the tax was implemented, Tran said he thinks his business will survive.

“I don’t think it will affect us that much because there is a lot of students here and it’s the Midwest, so people will tan no matter what,” Tran said.

— Leo Hunt

More of the 115 new Ind. laws

Gun rights
House Enrolled Act 1068 aims to keep the names, addresses and other identifying information of more than 300,000 Indiana residents with handgun licenses confidential. However, House Enrolled Act 1065 prohibits most employers from stopping their employees from bringing a gun to work as long as the guns are licensed, locked in their cars and out of sight.

Voting accessibility
The Indiana Supreme Court has upheld a law that will require citizens to show government-issued photo identification at the voting polls. This allows citizens without ID to vote on provisional ballots, but their votes are counted only if they present proper ID within 10 days. House Enrolled Act 1109 ensures that disabled voters have the same access to private, independent voting methods when casting early or absentee ballots as they do when voting on Election Day. The law also provides more options for military personnel to cast a vote while serving overseas.

Child custody
In an effort to collect more than $2 billion in overdue child support payments, Indiana lawmakers passed a bill that withholds casino winnings from parents who ignore their court-ordered obligations.

Property rights
Senate Enrolled Act 64 allows homeowners associations to regulate, but no longer ban, the display of political signs during election seasons. It prohibits associations from adopting restrictive rules that directly prohibit the display of political signs 30 days before an election. However, associations might still enforce rules that restrict the size, number and location of signs.

Independent research
According to the Senate Enrolled Act 84, the legislative branch will be able to access state-funded research and research tools at Indiana colleges and universities.

Rx abuse
Senate Enrolled Act 356 expands the data collected by Indiana’s prescription monitoring program. The law also allows INSPECT to release information about prescribers and patients to the state toxicologist, Medicaid fraud investigators and substance abuse assistance programs to prevent prescription drug abuse among Hoosiers.

Alcohol
Under State Enrolled Act 75, sales clerks are now required to ask all patrons for photo identification to verify that they are at least 21 years old for the carry-out purchase of alcohol. The new law also allows Indiana’s microbreweries to sell alcohol for carry-out on Sundays.