News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Local & Bistate

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable as well as posts that are attacking other users. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.
comments powered by Disqus
September 17, 2012

STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: Sense of justice, not gender alone, qualifies Rush for seat on high court

Maureen Hayden CNHI

INDIANAPOLIS —

Finally. That was the word uttered time and again, with an exclamation point for emphasis, late last week when Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels announced he’d picked a woman to sit on what’s been the all-male Indiana Supreme Court.

Daniels’ decision to appoint Tippecanoe County Judge Loretta Rush to the state’s high court is history-making for a state with a big gender gap in its judiciary. Rush is only the second woman to sit on the court in its nearly 200-year history.  

Much has been and will be made of the fact that Rush is a woman. There should be. There is disproportionately low number of women on the bench in our lower courts as well: Only about 20 percent of the state trial court judges are women.

But just as Daniels’ prior two selections for the top court – Mark Massa and Steve David – are more than just their gender, Rush should be noteworthy for her work as well.

Those who know her best praise her for her work as a juvenile court judge who has called on her community to help their most vulnerable and the most troubled children. She’s reached out to schools, churches, community and business groups — to anyone she could find — to make the case that it’s a shared responsibility to make sure no child is left behind.

Her “judicial activism” — in the best sense of the phrase — is even more compelling given a harrowing personal experience. In November 1998, a deeply troubled young man kicked open the door of her home and tried to kill her husband. She sustained injuries while protecting the couple’s three children.

Rush knew the assailant: A decade earlier, as a lawyer in private practice, she was appointed by the court to act as his legal advocate — what’s called a guardian ad litem. At the time, he was only 14 but had suffered through a lifetime of misery — a ward of the court since the age of two, followed by years of failed placements in homes and mental health facilities. He ended up spending the last part of his teenage years incarcerated.

In her application to be considered for Indiana Supreme Court, Rush cited that experience as one of the most significant legal matters ever entrusted to her.

Here is some of what she wrote about how that searing experience shaped her later role as a judge: “I look at the children that find themselves in our court system and understand the long-standing toll such things as child abuse, neglect and untreated mental health can have on their adult lives. …

“I look at all the parties and participants involved with any case, appreciate what they bring into the courtroom and understand that it is often difficult and intimidating for witnesses and participants to testify before us as judges. I learned that mentors and volunteers working with the juvenile courts are critical. …

“Finally,” she added, “my family’s ordeal heightened my resolve that our judicial system must always strive to earn the trust of the public and remain sensitive to, and protect the rights of all that come before us.”

Those words seem more insightful than just saying that our newest justice is a woman.



Maureen Hayden is the Indiana Statehouse bureau chief for CNHI, the parent company of the Tribune-Star.

She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.

 

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local & Bistate
Latest News
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
TribStar.com Poll
AP Video
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge Wind Energy Push Leaves Trail of Dead Eagles Raw: Germany Protestors Picket Barbie House Horse Saved From Slaughter, Goes on to Win Big Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics Music Therapy Bonds Parents and Preemies Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday Tensions As Israel Targets Syria in Airstrikes Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting Raw: Spacewalking Astronauts Hope to Stop Leak Obama: 'Couldn't Be Prouder' of Jason Collins Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree Officials Arrest Man in Idaho in Terrorism Case Today in History, May 6th Raw: Child, Stroller Falls Onto Pa. Train Tracks
NDN Video
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country Coffee Stop Leads To Arrest Of YouTube Sensation Wanted For Murder Bearded Dragon Reunited With Owner Marine Reunited with Warzone Companion Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Beyonce Is Pregnant! SF baseball player overpaid $500,000 RETURNS money -- and team says KEEP IT $1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest Dad returns from Afghanistan, surprises family during Rays' first pitch See Jennifer Lopez's New $10m Hamptons Mansion Woman tricked into taking abortion pill Emma Watson Goes Pantless IRS scandal: Republicans seek to tie Obama to agency's woes Play of the Day: Flipping to Safety Pregnant Kim Kardashian Squeezes Her Swollen Feet Into Stilettos Top Videos of the Week: Angry Taco Bell Guy, Glacier Moves on House, Dog Hates Baths Cindy Crawford Stuns At Cannes Raw: Marines Come to Obama's Aid in the Rain CUTE: Monkey shares lollipop with dog, then HITS pooch on head with it Miranda Kerr Looks Sexy in a Bikini Photo Shoot
Parade
Magazine
Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
  • -

     

    March 12, 2010

activity
Real Estate News