FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – The Indiana Court of Appeals is bringing the courtroom to the people, thanks to its Appeals on Wheels program and Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Department of Anthropology and Sociology.
The program, which has seen panels of three judges traveling to all 92 Indiana counties since 2001, allows the public – usually high school and/or college students – to get an up-close look at the judiciary’s role in Indiana government.
The judges who are scheduled to hear this actual appeals case are Margaret G. Robb, the first woman to be elected Chief Judge on the Court of Appeals, Paul D. Mathias, a Fort Wayne native and formerly an Allen County Superior Court judge, and Senior Judge Randall T. Shepard, formerly Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court.
According to the court, “evidence indicates that Cory Chapman, a high school band director, sent memes involving jokes of a sexual nature to a former student. The state charged Chapman with disseminating matter harmful to minors. Chapman moved for a preliminary determination of whether the matter is probably harmful to minors. Following a hearing, the trial court answered that question in the affirmative. Chapman now appeals contending that the memes do not meet the standard of ‘probably harmful to minors’ and that, if they do meet the standard, it constitutes a violation of his First Amendment rights.”
The hearing will take place Thursday, beginning at 1:30 p.m., in the Liberal Arts Building, Room 159.
The session is free and open to the public.
