The Associated Press provides the “Schedule for Roberts Confirmation Hearings.”

The Exponent, an independent college newspaper published primarily by Purdue students, carries a story today titled, “Indiana makes progress toward online sales tax.” Although not stated explicitly within the article, Indiana will join twelve other states in pushing Internet and mail-order vendors to collect sales taxes from their out-of-state customers. As C-Net reported on Friday:

On Oct. 1, 13 states will officially launch reformed systems that pledge compliance with the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement, first devised in 2002 by a committee of state tax officials and billed as a way to make tax administration simpler and more uniform. Five more states have passed laws that, over the next two years, will bring them into compliance with the agreement.

Compliance with the system won’t change the fact that tax collection remains voluntary for companies without a physical presence in the states where their orders originate, thanks to a 1992 Supreme Court decision.

In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that a remote or mail-order retailer has to collect sales tax only from customers who order from states where the retailer has a physical presence. Nevertheless, for residents in the 45 states with a sales tax, customers who purchased goods out of state “tax free” online are supposed to pay a use tax, typically levied at the same rate as the sales tax, on those out-of-state items. In practice, though, very few citizens file such returns.

Earlier on 9/7 Indiana Barrister reported that Gov. Mitch Daniels had requested that Indiana be put on a state of emergency in order to receive federal funds for help it has provided to Hurricane Katrina victims. As part of numerous executive orders related to the relief effort, Gov. Daniels declared the state of emergency on September 6, 2005 and placed it in effect on August 29, 2005

Yesterday on September 9, while under a state of emergency, Gov. Daniels released the latest in the relief-related executive orders which granted sweeping authority to his office and agency heads in taking any action “necessary or appropriate to support ongoing emergency management and disaster relief efforts relating to, or to cope with temprary economic dispruption caused by, Hurricane Katrina.” The order cites I.C. 10-14-3-11 as part of its authority to grant such powers to agencies.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has posted three new opinions:

Wernsing v. Thompson

Cler, Barbara v. IL Educ Association

Dupuy, Belinda v. Samuels, Bryan

Lawmakers are reportedly considering relaxation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 (Here is the text of 18 US Code s. 1385), which generally prohibits federal soldiers or National Guard troops under federal control from operating in a law enforcement capacity on US soil. Approximately 19,000 active-duty soldiers and 45,000 National Guard soldiers – the latter currently under the control of Louisiana Governor Katheleen Blanco – are now involved in relief efforts. Military and civic officials have thusfar tried to portray their involvement in recovery work and even the National Guard’s law enforcement role does not amount to any sort of martial law.

Gen. Peter Pace, expected to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff later this year, has called for Posse Comitatus to be reconsidered in response to suggestions that it slowed down deployment of troops, but has not specifically endorsed a relaxation. Sen. John Warner (R-VA), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has questioned restrictions under the law since the September 11th attacks, and has promised to do so again. Earlier this summer, new Department of Defense contingency plans for response to terrorist attacks also raised questions about the act and domestic deployment of federal troops. Legal scholars, however, have questioned any relaxation of the statute, noting that in earlier disasters “Congress and the public have seen the military as a panacea for domestic problems”, and “minor exceptions to the PCA can quickly expand to become major exceptions” (75 Washington University Law Quarterly 953).

The Rand Corporation offers an overview of the Posse Comitatus Act (pdf), LLRX offers a print-oriented resource guide, and the conservative Cato Institute hosted a debate (video) on the Act’s current applicability in 2002. Reuters has more.

The Evansville Courier & Press published an editorial today titled, “Checkerboard Clock.” Blogger Doug Masson has been a leader in covering the issue. Today he updates his state map with a graphical representation of the checkerboard based upon Cass and Carroll Counties voting to request central time. The Monticello Herald Journal reports that White County Commissioners expect to make a decision at their September 12 meeting.

Although unrelated to the law directly, I’m compelled to link to Paul Musgrave’s incredibly insightful and powerful post titled, “I Hope We Don’t Inconvenience Indianapolis.” Summarizing it would be an injustice, so I’ll simply urge readers to go read it in full.

Rep. Hostettler, an Indiana congressman representing the 8th district in southern and western Indiana, was one of 11 House members to oppose a $51.8 billion hurricane relief package. The Evansville Courier & Press has an article titled, “Hostettler: No to storm aid.” WISH-TV reports, “Hostettler Votes Against Katrina Aid Package.” The Mercury News carries the Associated Press story on the vote with an article titled, “Hostettler votes against Katrina Aid package.”

Update: The Evansville Courier & Press runs a story on 9/10 titled, “Hostettler cites cost for vote.”

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals posted four new opinions:

• Brengettcy v. Horton
• Byrd v. Illinois Dept. of Public Health
• Herman v. Central States
• Tapiero de Orejuela v. Gonzales

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has declared an alert for fine particles in Clark, Floyd, Marion, and Vanderburgh counties. For hourly updates on levels of fine particles and forecasts specific to your region, IDEM recommends you log onto its Smog Watch website. The Indianapolis Star carries an article on the advisory titled, “State issues air pollution alert.”