Four stories on law and children

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Indiana Adopts New Code of Judicial Conduct for 2009

"The Indiana Supreme Court is adopting a new Code of Judicial Conduct based on the 2007 national model of the American Bar Association. The rules will become effective Jan. 1, 2009.

Indiana is the second state after Hawaii to adopt new rules based on the ABA's model. The new code provides more concrete guidance for avoiding 'the appearance of impropriety,' which has often been criticized as being too vague; includes ethical principles for judicial candidates to use as guidance; imposes clear requirements for public disclosure of income, reimbursements, and gifts; and other updated or new rules."

We do not think this will do much to change the frequency of judges ruling over cases in which they have a vested interest in the outcome. The new rules are available here
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/rules/jud_conduct/jud_conduct09.pdf


Teens share stories about Juvenile Justice System

Stories from Indiana teenagers involved in the Juvenile Justice System are shared here. http://www.theindianalawyer.com/html/detail_page.asp?content=1823


Divorce Gene

Is there a gene that makes you more prone to divorce? Researchers say the “divorce gene” plays a role in determining how the brain responds to a chemical that is central to the bonding process between a man and a woman.

Men with a variant of the gene tended to score badly on a questionnaire designed to assess how well they bond with their partner and were more likely to report having suffered marital difficulties.

The discovery raises the highly speculative possibility that scientists could one day develop drugs to target the gene in an attempt to prevent marriages from falling apart.

Mr Walum stressed that the gene could not be used to predict with any real accuracy how someone is likely to behave in a future relationship.
But he added: "The fact that the corresponding gene has proved important for similar behaviour in voles makes our findings even more interesting, and suggests that the thoroughly studied brain mechanisms that we know give rise to strong bonds between individual voles can also be relevant to humans."

The complete story can be viewed here
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/global/2008/09/03/noindex/scidivorce101.xml&DCMP=EMC-exp_03092008


Indiana Court of Appeals issues opinion on shared custody

The Court stated that it cannot agree that splitting physical and legal custody of children is “unworkable”. The Court’s opinion and analysis is available here.
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/09120801ewn.pdf