There has been a lot of speculation on whether State Senator Jim Merritt (R-Indianapolis) will run for re-election. I spoke to Jim this past weekend and from all indications he will run for re-election. I also gathered from our conversation that it seems unlikely he’ll run for Pro Tempore. He is starting up a new business and wants to spend time with his family as one his children will be junior in high school while two are going into eighth grade this year. Pro Tempore takes a lot of time and from everyone I’ve spoken with is a job that works much better if you are retired. My money is still on Tom Weatherwax as the candidate all Senate factions can agree on. Stay tuned.

Although the weekend manhunt for accused killer Desmond Turner took less than 48 hours, I’ve learned it could have take a lot longer. Turner is accused of murdering seven people in Indianapolis last Thursday. Sources say while police were searching for Desmond Turner, he was searching for a way out of town. Sources say he managed to contact his girlfriend and convinced her to drive him to Louisville, KY. While on the road, she turned the car around while Turner was asleep. She came back to Indianapolis and told him they’d made it to Louisville, when in fact they were at 38th and Meridian. When Turner got out of the car to use a pay phone, sources say the girlfriend drove off. Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi is seeking the death penalty against Turner.

Today’s Indianapolis Star has details on last Thursday night’s shooting. It’s pretty close to what our sources told us yesterday.

Before I get to the meat of this piece, it’s important to know the latest in the shooting deaths of seven Indianapolis residents in their east side home.

According to my sources, 28-year old Desmond Turner found out through “street chatter” that there was money at the house in the 500 Block of North Hamilton where the victims were found. Sources say there are witnesses who can testify they heard Desmond say he was going to rob the house and kill everyone in it, including the children. In addition, there was no evidence that there was any illegal activity taking place in the home, nor were the residents illegal aliens. Turner is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow with James Stewart for the alleged crime.

Those are the facts, now on to the politics…

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It’s been a busy week for Indiana Democrats. They held their state convention on Saturday and earlier in the week Democratic candidate Melina Kennedy held a news conference calling for a restructuring of the prosecutor’s office to better deal with the city’s rising crime problem. I’ll focus on the convention today and revisit the prosecutor’s race later in the week as I have some interesting observations as of late.

First the convention, since I was celebrating a birthday weekend, I will freely admit to being a little “under the weather” while attending their convention, but since I have a rule that says the job comes first, I pulled myself out of bed and did my duty. I have to say, I was impressed, to some degree by the ‘Crats. They were energized and threw quite a bit of zingers at their Republican counterparts. Their strategy is a simple one, make the 2006 election about Governor Mitch Daniels.

The current polls don’t look good for Mitch right now, according to SurveyUSA, the Governor is sitting on a 38 percent approval rating. Democrats hope to capitalize on this. During a news conference where the Democrats unveiled their candidate for Secretary of State, Treasurer and Auditor the perpetual theme was one of “we’ll send people into office that will listen to the average Hoosier.” A not so subtle stab at the Governor. Democratic House Leader Pat Bauer also took some shots at Mitch, saying the election will be about time, tolls and privatization. He also made a reference about Mitch’s height, which I thought was a little uncalled for seeing what is known to be on the Leader’s head.

Despite that, Democrats do have a decent shot and reclaiming a lot of loss ground. If the national trends continue, the President remains unpopular, gas prices stay high, Iraq continues to be viewed as a stalemate at best and mix in all that Hoosiers in Northern and Southern Indiana (where the Governor’s polling is the worst) the ‘Crats could get the House back. On the flip side, the Governor is working to bring jobs to Indiana so expect them to roll out progress report after report this summer.

The ‘Crats have already adopted the campaign theme provided by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, “Had Enough.” That theme, coupled with serious alternatives to the Republican agenda might be enough for the ‘Crats to make some inroads into GOP territory. Next time, the race for County Prosecutor.

Just when I thought this silly issue was about to be put to bed forever it resurfaces. Facing declining poll numbers and being about as popular as Michael Jackson in day care, the President is calling for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. I don’t necessarily blame him for going down this road, if were facing high oil prices, an increasing unpopular war in Iraq, the possibility of a conflict with Iran, a political party facing serious voter anxiety, I’d do something too to shore up my base. Luckily for the President, the Democrats aren’t organized nor have put together a coherent message, for now. However, when “W” starts talking about gay marriage, I know things are getting bad.

Now to be fair, Democrats aren’t getting on the gay marriage bandwagon either knowing what it did to them in 2004 (see Ohio). What I still don’t understand though is what the big deal is about gay marriage? Let’s see, two people joined together in a committed relationship raising children in a stable environment. This is bad why? Now the opponents of gay marriage says it hurts “traditional family values” and will break down society. I ask once again, how?

Child molesters, murders, and felons can all marry with no restrictions? 28-year old Desmond Turner is accused of murdering seven people, 3 of them children, in an east shooting in Indianapolis this past week. If he’s convicted of the crime and sentenced to death he can still get married, but my friends Bruce and Gene can’t. And they’ve never even gotten traffic tickets.

All I have ever asked from people is a logical, rational reason as to why gays should not be allowed to marry? If the argument is they can’t procreate, neither can the elderly or infertile, but we let them marry. If the argument is gay marriage will lead to things like polygamy and bestiality, I point out two things. Polygamy is actually in the Bible, remember King Solomon. Second, marriage involves the consent of two parties so if your dog can sign a marriage certificate I say take him on Letterman instead of Niagara Falls for the Honeymoon. Third, if the argument is that churches would be forced to perform gay marriages, I ask you to show me a church that was forced perform a wedding that did not involve a prelude to a civil war in the 17th century.

Let’s just be honest, the real reason so many oppose gay marriage is because is just creeps them out. Two men walking down an isle, kissing each other and going on their honeymoon and doing what couples do on their honeymoon makes social conservatives and some other folks just feel icky. Now two women, I actually find attractive, but that’s my DVD collection. So instead of citing a bunch of totally bogus reasons as to why gay marriage should be banned, ask yourself this question. If two men celebrating their wedding night makes you feel icky and creepy, then why are you thinking about it?

Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson is considering an ordinance that would limit ownership of pit bulls and possibly ban them. This comes in the wake of a pit bull attack that left a two-ear old girl hospitalized.

I don’t know if an ordinance banning pit bulls is the way to go. The Indianapolis Star reported today that an 11-year old girl was attacked by a bulldog and a boxer while walking to the nature center at Holiday Park.

Currently there is an ordinance on the books that already makes owners responsible when animals attack and it is not breed specific. In addition there are penalties for unlawful use of a dog as well.

I do think the law needs to be toughened with the increase of a fine and penalty. In addition, I am not in favor of a hard and fast “one bite” rule. I do believe we should look at the situation let the facts do the determination. It’s one thing if your dog bites someone unprovoked. It’s another thing if the drunk neighbor climbs over the fence and the dog thinks he’s an intruder. There should be tough rules when it comes to animal attacks, but we should not lose sight of common sense.

I read the Indiana Inspector General’s report over the weekend concerning former director Heather Bolejack and the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. As you know Bolejack was fired earlier this month for awarding a $417,000 contract to a family friend, Michael McKenna. In addition, ICJI Deputy Director Kate Gullans was also terminated. The report paints a very disturbing picture at the ICJI. And while Bolejack’s spokesman calls the report a “public lynching” I have to ask who brought the rope? Allow me to explain.

As I’ve written earlier, the report reaches four essential conclusions.

1. The primary purpose of the SKIP grant was to benefit McKenna.
2. Bolejack was personally and substantially involved in awarding the grant.
3. Documents were falsified to make it appear the grant was awarded properly.
4. Bolejack attempted to direct two more grants to McKenna, which the staff refused to process.

The IG report shows McKenna apparently contradicted himself in a May 17 interview with the Indianapolis Star when he said he never had any knowledge of any program similar to the SKIP (Saving Kids of Incarcerated Parents) program, but the report says he met with members of the Ten Point Coalition and city-council member Ike Randolph on setting up such a program.

The IG also says McKenna’s grant application did not conform with agency guidelines by the August 1 deadline and his grant did not get the approval of three necessary agency groups, the Juvenile Justice State Advisory Group (JJSAG), IJCI Youth Services Subcommittee, and the full board of trustees. So how was the award granted? The IG says records were altered to appear the JJSAG gave its approval.

On page 14 of the report, the IG writes that Bolejack claims she never attended any meeting where the SKIP grant was discussed, however on September 8 the IG says Bolejack attended a meeting and participated in the discussion.

The report also says Bolejack tried to get two other agencies involved in awarding McKenna the grant. Under federal guidelines, the legal applicant for the grant must be a governmental body. The report says Bolejack tried to get the Department of Corrections and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office to be the legal applicant. She was frustrated, the report says, with the delay on behalf of the MCPO and told the office their delay was a “disincentive” for future funding of MCPO projects. Because of the delays, the ICJI made itself the legal applicant for the grant, which the IG reports caused an issue because the local government agency applying for the grant had to come up with some of the money for the grant as well, in this case, $100,000. And under federal guidelines, federal money could not be used as a matching grant.

In addition, to the original grant award the IG report says McKenna was sated to receive a number of other grants totaling $336,000. This was in addition to the $417,000. He would have also been paid a salary of $165,000, which includes the $90,000 he was paid from the original grant.

The report also mentions that Deputy Director Kate Gullans admitted to falsifying records in order to be reimbursed for $500 in alcohol purchases for a seminar in January 2006. And Bolejack repeatedly requested subordinates put her expenses on their credit cards when traveling.

As I stated earlier, much of the report contradicts many of Bolejack’s and McKenna’s assertions. For example, Bolejack stated she did not find out about the charges against her until the day before the hearing, however according to the IG, they presented her with their preliminary findings and allowed her the opportunity to respond to them.

It was very disturbing that once again race rears its ugly head. In a statement released to the media Friday, Bolejack’s spokesman released this statement. “Ms. Bolejack adamantly denies the substance and implications of the Inspector General’s report, and wholly rejects its conclusions as erroneous, misleading and greatly exaggerated. Ms. Bolejack committed no crime or ethical violation, yet she has been subjected to what can be candidly if not tactfully described as a public lynching through the news media. It is now clear that there has never been even a tacit presumption of innocence in this case on the part of investigators, and it is my position and many others in this community that the public execution of her case has been nothing short of shameful. Instead of more venomous sound bites from her accusers, she should be given an apology. We will have further comment on the contentions outlined in the report after it has been more thoroughly reviewed, and look forward to sharing all the facts pertinent to Ms. Bolejack’s case.”

Terms like “public lynching” and “execution” are being used here to invoke some disturbing images to incite one segment of the population and intimidate another segment. Hopefully, by exposing this for what it is that ploy will not work. Bolejack is innocent until proven guilty and deserves due process. This is a serious matter that should be decided on its merits, not on race-baiting language.

This week the Utah Supreme Court upheld the bigamy conviction of a polygamist but split over whether Lawrence v. Texas reaches beyond consensual sex between same-sex couples. The dissent, penned by Chief Justice Christine Durham, found that the bigamy laws unconstitutionally burden the “free exercise of religion and the privacy of the intimate, personal relationships between consenting adults.”

Durham’s dissent is persuasive, particularly since the “married” adults in question were not married through the state; only through a religious ceremony. The language of the Supreme Court’s Lawrence v. Texas decision affirmed the right to sexual privacy, finding that private homosexual conduct is encompassed within in. The right to privacy affirmed in Lawrence is more than “simply the right to engage in certain sexual conduct.” The Court made sure to note a “substantive dimension of fundamental significance” of the right to private, consensual sexual conduct. Why should this not apply to three consenting adults?

Chief Justice Durham did vote to uphold the husband’s conviction of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and she argued that the state should prosecute the other crimes that may arise from polygamy – welfare fraud, incest, child abuse, and domestic violence – but that given the Court’s ruling in Lawrence, polygamists have a constitutional right to sexual privacy.

Utah’s statutes may have declared polygamy harmful, but it is hard to see how people who enter a non-state-sanctioned relationship harm the state or the institution of monogamous marriage. I think this is partially why beloved Christian author C.S. Lewis wrote the following:

There ought to be two distinct kinds of marriage: one governed by the State with rules enforced on all citizens, the other governed by the Church with rules enforced by her on her own members. The distinction ought to be quite sharp, so that a man knows which couples are married in a Christian sense and which are not.

Utah’s polygamists should be free to create their own religious marriages, and evangelicals can and should construct their own as well. But when they do, the state should remain out of it and only concern itself with those that are state-sanctioned.

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The Indiana Inspector general is providing more details into his investigation of former Criminal Justice Institute Director Heather Bolejack and the awarding of a $417,000 grant to family friend Mike McKenna.

In the report released today Dave Thomas reached four primary findings:

1.The primary purpose of the SKIP (Saving Kids of Incarcerated Parents) grant award was to benefit McKenna and not provide mentoring services to juveniles as required by federal law.

2. The timeline of events indicates that Bolejack was personally and substantially involved in awarding the grant without Board approval.

3. Documents were falsified to make it appear as if the grant had been properly and legally approved to cover up an apparent deception.

4. Bolejack attempted to direct at least two more grants or contracts to McKenna which ICJI staff refused to process.

The IG conducted interviews with 50 witnesses and also gave Bolejack several opportunities to answer the allegations. The IG tells me she did meet with them in two meetings, one of which they revealed the preliminary fidings. That would seem to contradict Heather’s statements to the Indianapolis Star where she said she did not find out about the full allegations against her until May 10. I’ll thumb through the rest of the report over the weekend, but this is the latest.