News Archive

It's been quite the week for IU McKinney's Civil Practice Clinic.

IU McKinney 4L evening student Brendan Haile (in the photo at left) made his first argument before the Indiana Supreme Court February 20, with several of his fellow Civil Practice Clinic students and Professor Carrie Hagan seated in the front row silently cheering him on.

During the argument, Haile asserted the clinic's position on the case. "They are convicted either of a ‘D’ felony or a Level 6 felony, and under this law for alternative misdemeanor sentencing, they would be allowed to reduce their ‘D’ felony or Level 6 felony to a misdemeanor,” Haile said to the court. “If they chose to do that now, and we keep the state’s interpretation of the standard, now we are falling down to having these people wait even further for their expungement."

Students took part in moot court in preparation for the argument. "Going into it I felt very prepared, and all credit for that goes to Professor Hagan and the rest of the students in the Civil Practice Clinic," Haile said. "Everyone played a part in developing our argument and it was just my job to deliver it. As for the actual argument, it was an incredible experience and one that I won't forget. Having my friends, family, and fellow clinic students in the audience really made me feel comfortable. And the support from our co-counsel Elizabeth Bellin and Mark Altenhof was huge. I feel confident that we presented the strongest argument possible and I look forward to the Court's decision."  Haile and 3L Libby Whitaker worked on the amicus for the case together.

Professor Hagan was pleased with how the argument went. "We were really grateful for the opportunity to be heard on an issue that affects so many of our clients, and specifically, for students like Brendan to be able to take such an active role in doing so," she said. "I’m really proud of the clinic students’ enthusiasm and hard work throughout this whole process and am especially thankful that the Supreme Court approved us as amicus curae to give us this opportunity."

Students also filed an amicus in Brian J. Allen v. State of Indiana, No. 15D01-1811-XP-44, a case that originated in Dearborn County and was decided by the Indiana Court of Appeals February 19. Allen was convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary. He was not convicted of a crime involving serious bodily injury, although someone was seriously injured during the burglary. That injury precludes Allen from receiving an expungement, the trial court decided. The Civil Practice Clinic students disagreed. 3L Sherell Scott and Whitaker worked on the Allen amicus brief. Clinic students and Allen received some great news; the Indiana Court of Appeals agreed with them and reversed the decision of the trial court. (In the photo from left are Libby Whitaker, Professor Carrie Hagan, Brendan Haile, Sherell Scott, and Grace Dillow.)

"By enacting the expungement statutes, the legislature intended to give individuals who have been convicted of certain crimes a second chance by providing an opportunity for relief from the stigma associated with their criminal convictions," Judge Mark Bailey, '82, wrote for the court. "Because the expungement statutes are inherently remedial, they should be liberally construed to advance the remedy for which they were enacted."