Attorney General Todd Rokita & Comptroller Elise Nieshalla tell IU’s Kinsey Institute to follow State law
Attorney General Todd Rokita and State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla are calling on Indiana University (IU) to show proof of compliance with a clear and unambiguous state law, which prohibits the Kinsey Institute from using taxpayer funds.
“My office works tirelessly to protect Hoosiers’ hard-earned tax dollars and Indiana law is clear – no state funds may be used to fund the Kinsey Institute,” Attorney General Rokita said. “More than a year has passed since IU assured the public and state officials that it would follow the law, yet we have seen no indication that any serious actions have been taken. IU is not above the law, and Hoosiers deserve answers.”
An Indiana law passed by the General Assembly prohibits state funding of the Kinsey Institute in any way. The 2023 law cites more than a dozen potential funding loopholes which must now operate using zero taxpayer dollars. A joint letter sent this week by Attorney General Rokita and Comptroller Nieshalla demands IU’s President and Trustees confirm compliance with the state law that went into effect on July 1 – of last year – more than ample time to provide such proof.
“As the state elected leader responsible for the accounting and reporting of state funds, I take seriously my responsibility to document and provide complete transparency for tax dollars spent within state government,” stated Comptroller Elise Nieshalla. “With the absence of evidence per state law that tax dollars are no longer supporting the Kinsey Institute, we are calling for necessary financial information to prove adherence to state statute.”
Indiana University issued a press release in April of 2023 promising a “thorough legal review to ensure the University follows state law.” But rather than show simple proof of compliance, the administrators of Indiana’s largest public university school system voted to table and ultimately declined to separate the controversial sex research center from the University itself. Instead, IU proposed a plan to use accounting methods to ensure compliance, yet two quarterly meetings have passed since this proposal with no public update as to the implementation of an appropriate accounting plan. Now, another semester is set to begin and Indiana taxpayers deserve answers.
The law passed by our General Assembly uses succinct language forbidding state funds from being used in the administration, operation, or any programs of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction.
The letter sent to Indiana University officials is attached.
Pursuing justice for victims, Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office prevails in 96% of civil and criminal appeals in first half of 2024
Fulfilling a commitment to keep criminals behind bars and secure justice for victims, Attorney General Todd Rokita and his team won victories on behalf of Hoosiers in 96% of civil and criminal appeals in the first half of 2024.
“Every day, we work hard to protect Hoosiers from wrongdoers and pursue justice for victims,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Our impressive success in achieving this mission includes upholding convictions of child abusers, murderers and rapists. It’s a huge part of our work, and we will continue our record of keeping dangerous lawbreakers behind bars and out of our communities.”
In the first six months of 2024, Attorney General Rokita’s office closed out 956 appeals — of which 863 went through full briefings resulting in opinions from appellate courts. (Some cases are resolved early, such as when an appellant voluntarily dismisses the case.)
Of the 863 appeals leading to decisions, Attorney General Rokita’s team prevailed in 831 — for a 96% success rate. This workload comprised 253 civil cases (244 victories) and 610 criminal cases (587 victories).
Two recent examples of appellate victories include arguing successfully on behalf of 1) a 55-year prison sentence for an illegal alien who committed murder for hire in Bartholomew County and 2) the murder conviction of a domestic abuser who killed his girlfriend.
Attorney General Rokita expressed gratitude to Angela Sanchez, Chief Counsel of Appeals, and the entire appeals team.
“My appeals team works tirelessly to keep Hoosier families safe,” Attorney General Rokita said. “These dedicated public servants handle more than 1,000 criminal and civil appeals every year.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita’s Big Tech fight pays off with court victory over Google monopoly
“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
Thus declared a U.S. district court this week as it ruled in favor of plaintiffs — Indiana, 51 other states and territories, and the U.S. Department of Justice — who sued the Big Tech giant over its illegal monopolistic misconduct in connection with its search function and search text advertising.
In Indiana, Attorney General Todd Rokita and his team played a leading role in coordinating the efforts of the plaintiff states litigating with the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division against Google in this case.
“From day one, I have made clear that my office would not tolerate Big Tech riding roughshod over the rights and interests of everyday Hoosiers,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Once again, we are making good on this commitment. We are holding Google accountable for its illegal and unacceptable practices.”
The court’s decision finds that Google has used exclusive distribution agreements to limit competition for online search services, depriving users of innovative alternatives and enabling Google to charge supracompetitive prices for general search text ads relied upon by many businesses in Indiana and beyond.
Under Attorney General Rokita’s leadership, Indiana — which was one of 11 plaintiff states to join the federal government’s initial monopolization case against Google — continued its efforts to litigate this groundbreaking case from start to finish for the benefit of consumers.
“These companies are not permitted to preserve their market dominance through exclusionary tactics,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Rather, they must compete in the free market to maintain the favor of their customers.”
The court decision is attached.
Indiana Attorney General and former Secretary of State Todd Rokita co-leads 22 states in calling on Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act
Attorney General Todd Rokita and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird are co-leading a 22-state letter calling on Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (“SAVE”) Act.
This bill would strengthen our electoral process by upholding the rule of law and prohibit individuals who are ineligible to vote like illegal aliens from doing so. Even as Rokita and Bird demand action on the national level, the American public should find it absurd that such a letter to Congress is needed in order to bolster the very foundation of our country’s system of government – free and fair elections.
“This commonsense piece of legislation is needed to ensure what should be two simple concepts - that our elections are secure and our elections are protected from illegal voters,” Attorney General Rokita said. “With millions of illegal aliens entering the country on President Joe Biden’s watch, it’s imperative that we take these steps to ensure our elections are safe and secure.”
Under the SAVE Act, individuals must provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. It also will help states identify and remove illegal aliens from their voter registration rolls. With broad support among all Americans and the U.S. House of Representatives passing the bill last week, Attorney General Rokita is demanding the U.S. Senate to take action.
“As Indiana’s former secretary of state, I know that increasing public faith by securing the electoral process is a hallmark of our democracy – a system that is unfortunately and ironically being blocked by members of a political party named for this exact system of representative government,” Attorney General Rokita said.
Attached is the letter sent to congressional leaders.
Attorney General Todd Rokita co-leads 17 states defending Indiana teacher’s religious liberty against required use of ‘preferred pronouns’
Attorney General Todd Rokita is co-leading 17 states in asking a federal appeals court to rule in favor of the religious liberty of a former Brownsburg High School teacher forced to resign because he declined to use the preferred names and pronouns of transgender students — an action that violated the teacher’s sincerely held beliefs.
John Kluge, who taught orchestra, was originally permitted to call all his students by their last names so transgender students would not feel singled out. The school district, however, withdrew its initial approval and insisted Kluge use students’ preferred names and pronouns.
Leveraging the voices of likeminded attorneys general from other states to empower parents, Attorney General Rokita is asking the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court’s ruling that the school district could not accommodate Kluge’s religious beliefs without experiencing “undue hardship.”
“By addressing all students by their last names, this teacher conscientiously worked to treat everyone equally and respectfully while also staying faithful to his own religious convictions,” Attorney General Rokita said. “But no concession short of full surrender will placate the powerful forces devoted to making sure we all march in lockstep with the transanity agenda.”
In rejecting Kluge’s attempts at a compromise, school leaders cited litigation risks under Title IX and concern for the educational environment. Such concerns, however, should not override the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberty in this case.
“Title IX does not mandate the use of a student’s preferred name or pronoun,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Nor does requiring use of preferred names and pronouns help schools fulfill their academic mission. To the contrary, kicking this teacher to the curb sends students the wrong messages about America’s heritage of respecting religion. And, at a time when teachers are in short supply, this kind of intolerance of faith among faculty members is sure to push additional good teachers out of the classroom.”
The amicus brief is attached.
Honest Abe Auto Sales fails to live up to their name, Attorney General Todd Rokita recovers almost half a million dollars against Indy car dealer
Bait-and-switch sales tactics, falsely advertised prices and preying on Hoosiers with subprime credit — those are the alleged misdeeds of a string of four Indianapolis used-car stores that might rank among the area’s most notoriously misnamed business enterprises. And now, after a settlement with Attorney General Todd Rokita, the business will be forced to pay back almost half a million dollars to deceived consumers.
The stores operate under the name “Honest Abe Auto Sales,” but according to a lawsuit and settlement filed by Attorney General Rokita, they have harmed Hoosier car-buyers by engaging in dishonest and deceitful conduct.
Honest Abe Auto Sales advertised specific prices on vehicles, but when consumers with subprime credit attempted to buy the vehicles, Honest Abe raised the prices by thousands of dollars. Honest Abe then failed to disclose the price increase as a cost of credit. Over 250 consumers were affected.
“We won’t tolerate businesses breaking the law and duping Hoosiers into paying higher prices than advertised,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Regardless of their credit scores, consumers should never encounter bait-and-switch tactics in which prices change the second customers arrive in person.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Honest Abe Auto Sales will pay restitution to affected consumers in the total amount of $470,646. Honest Abe Auto Sales is also enjoined from engaging in similar deceptive conduct in future advertising and sales.
“Here we have a business that allegedly hid extra finance fees, staggering service charges, document costs and outright price markups,” Attorney General Rokita added. “The fact they call themselves ‘Honest Abe’ just makes the facts of this case especially rich.”
The defendant, Sycamore Companies LLC, operates stores at the following addresses: 4401 North Keystone Avenue; 5520 West Washington Street; 3201 West 16th Street; and 5422 Madison Avenue.
The consent judgment is attached.
Attorney General Todd Rokita warns Hoosiers of charitable scams related to attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump
Attorney General Todd Rokita is warning Hoosiers to watch out for scammers soliciting donations for fake charitable causes. Good samaritans started a legitimate fundraising effort to support families of those killed and wounded during the July 13 attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, but scammers have used this tragedy to start their own copycat efforts to lure donors to give money to imposter accounts.
“These fraudsters appeal to people’s natural sense of compassion and patriotism in order to steal their hard-earned money,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Although most of us are appalled by such vile conduct, this is exactly the way scammers think and operate. They try to take advantage of difficult circumstances for their own personal gain. We want to help good-hearted Hoosiers avoid falling for these schemes.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita encourages Hoosiers to exercise caution not only in regard to this specific scam but anytime they receive solicitations related to high-profile news events that scammers may attempt to exploit.
In regard to solicitations involving political figures and causes, caution is especially warranted during an election year when many Hoosiers will receive more emails, phone calls and other communications from political organizations.
Attorney General Rokita offers the following tips:
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Slow down. A real charity will accept your donations any day of the week. Take as much time as you need to research and feel confident about the organization before handing over your hard-earned money.
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Know that it’s OK to ask questions. If the request for a donation is over the phone, the caller should be able to answer critical questions.
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Know who’s making the request. Don’t assume a request to donate is legitimate because a friend posted it on social media. Your friend might not personally know about the charity or how it spends money.
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Make sure you are dealing with the real charitable organization. Be leery of year-end appeals from unknown or unfamiliar organizations you receive by phone, mail, email and/or social media.
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Always donate by credit card rather than cash or other methods. This will ensure you can access the protections available through your credit card company.
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Research the cause or the organization. Search online for the name of the organization or cause with words like “review,” “scam,” or “complaint.” See if others have had good or bad experiences with the charity. Check out what charity watchdog groups say about that organization.
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Look up a charity’s report and ratings on these websites:
If you ever suspect a scam of any type, file a complaint at indianaconsumer.com or call Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office at 1-800-382-5516.
Attorney General Todd Rokita invites Hoosiers to visit Indiana Unclaimed booth at State Fair
Attorney General Todd Rokita is inviting Hoosiers attending the Indiana State Fair to meet the team, learn about the office, and reunite with your unclaimed property.
The Indiana State Fair runs from Friday, August 2nd to Sunday, August 18th and is closed on Mondays. Attorney General Rokita’s booth is located in the Mercantile Building and will be staffed from 9:00 a.m. ET to 8:00 p.m. ET each day.
“The Indiana State Fair is a cherished tradition for Hoosiers of all ages,” Attorney General Todd Rokita said. “It is also a great opportunity to interact with our team, learn about the Attorney General’s Office and the services our office provides - including reuniting Hoosiers with their unclaimed property.”
Representatives from the office will be available to assist Hoosiers with unclaimed property and provide information to help consumers protect themselves and their family from ID theft and other clever scams. Copies of Attorney General publications like the Parents’ Bill of Rights, Gun Owners Bill of Rights, and Indiana Constitution will also be available.
Attorney General Rokita’s office has returned over $45,000,000 so far this year and much more is ready to be claimed. With more than $1 million returned to Hoosiers every week, don’t miss out on your chance to be next!
Grab a funnel cake, take a stroll down the Midway, and search for what you may be missing at IndianaUnclaimed.gov.
Attorney General Todd Rokita makes a splash by raising awareness for consumers of harmful household products recalled in July
Attorney General Todd Rokita is alerting Hoosiers of important consumer protection concerns for products recalled in July. The office encourages consumers to take advantage of opportunities available for those who purchase recalled items that could be harmful to their families.
“The summer is coming to an end and kids are spending their final days outside before returning to school,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Don’t let the beautiful weather be ruined by an outdoor item breaking down. If you have one of the recalled products, stop using it immediately and pursue resolution from the manufacturer immediately.”
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the following consumer products were recalled in July. Click here for the full list.
If you believe you recently purchased a recalled product, stop using it, and check its recall notice (linked above for all products). Then follow the notice’s instructions, including where to return the product, how to get the product fixed, how to dispose of the product, how to receive a refund for the product, or what steps must be taken to receive a replacement product.
To view recalls issued prior to July visit the Consumer Protection Safety Commission website.
Attorney General Todd Rokita teams up with Sammy Terry at the Indiana State Fair to return your unclaimed property
Attorney General Todd Rokita continues successful partnership with the longest running TV horror host in the world, Sammy Terry, to treat Hoosiers with more than funnel cakes during this year's Indiana State Fair.
“Visiting the State Fair and watching Sammy Terry are family traditions for so many Hoosiers,” Attorney General Todd Rokita said. “That’s why I'm proud to continue our successful partnership with Sammy Terry to reunite Hoosiers with their hard-earned unclaimed funds.”
Fairgoers can meet Sammy Terry at the Attorney General’s booth on Saturday, August 17th from 1:00pm ET – 6:00pm ET in the Mercantile Building. Team members will be available to assist Hoosiers with unclaimed property searches. Staff will also have information and tips to help consumers protect themselves from identity theft and other scams.
“The only thing more horribly fun than bringing family friendly horror movies to Hoosiers each week is helping Indiana Unclaimed return millions of dollars to my Horror-able fellow Hoosiers,” said Sammy Terry.
AG Rokita’s team reunited one Hoosier family with $160,000 at the State Fair last year. The Attorney General’s Office has returned over $48,000,000 so far this year and much more is just waiting to be claimed. Don’t miss your chance to claim what is rightfully yours!
Representatives from the Attorney General’s Office will be at the Indiana State Fair every day from 9:00am ET – 8:00pm ET. The State Fair runs through Sunday, August 18th and is closed on Mondays.
Recovering your unclaimed property is safe, secure and simple. Attorney General Rokita recommends Hoosiers text “SAMMY” to “46220” or visit indianaunclaimed.gov and check for these types of property that might go unclaimed:
- Unclaimed wages or commissions
- Money orders
- Safety deposit box contents
- Savings and checking accounts
- Refunds
- Overpayments such as:
- Credit card balances
- Cell phone bills
- DMV payments
You may also like and/or follow the Unclaimed Property Division on Facebook. Make sure you keep an eye out for Sammy Terry’s reminders. Even he knows it’s ghoulishly fun to search for unclaimed property.
See Sammy Terry supporting Unclaimed Property here.
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