Arresting Developments in Judge New’s Court
From Time to Thyme
By Paula Dunn
Last week I wrote about Judge Edward F. New, Jr.’s rough treatment of juveniles and his inventive sentencing of convicted offenders. What created the most headlines, however, was his penchant for citing local officials for contempt.
One of the earliest incidents took place in 1967 when the judge called a Grand Jury to investigate why the Hamilton County Council was so slow authorizing funds for a renovation of the courthouse clock tower.
The night before the jury was to attend a Council meeting on the subject, the County Auditor and a Council member took official county records from the courthouse to an informal meeting at one Councilman’s home.
The Councilmen stated that they’d wanted to study the records to prepare for the next day’s meeting, but Judge New raised an accusation of possible embezzlement, and cited the Auditor and two Councilmen for contempt.
The charges were dropped when the Councilmen’s attorney pointed out that because Indiana statutes required the records to be kept “in the custody” of the Auditor, nothing illegal had taken place. (The tower did get repaired that summer.)
In 1974 Judge New jailed three County Commissioners without bond because they refused to pay his wife for days she hadn’t worked. (Mrs. New was Judge New’s court reporter.)
Threatened with his own arrest if he didn’t carry out the judge’s order, the Sheriff escorted the Commissioners to jail. There, the men spent a short time drinking coffee in the kitchen before agreeing “under protest” to pay Mrs. New.
(They wrote the check because their attorney advised them that a civil suit could be filed against the judge to recover the funds.)
In 1976, another County Auditor butted heads with Judge New, this time over a license plate for a car for the judge’s probation officer.
By law, the recently purchased vehicle, a former sheriff’s patrol car, couldn’t be used by anyone but police until it was repainted. The County Commissioners instructed the Auditor to hang onto the plate until the paint job was complete.
When New demanded the plate, the Auditor refused to go against the Commissioners’ orders and New jailed him. He was there three days before the Commissioners gave in, freeing him.
The incident that achieved the most notoriety, however, occurred in 1965, just a little over six months after New took office.
Because of a crackdown on traffic violations by state law enforcement officials, traffic cases in this county, which had previously been heard by a justice of the peace, were turned over to Judge New’s court.
New announced that ANYONE found guilty of breaking traffic laws would henceforth be sent to a state penal institution for the maximum time allowed — no exceptions.
In his column, “The County Line,” Noblesville Daily Ledger editor Jim Neal described the new policy as “an excellent example of shotgun justice” and observed that “some kindly little old lady” could end up in jail for driving too slowly while a driver charged with manslaughter might “stall his trial right out of court.”
New pronounced the article “disdainful, despicable, scurrilous and contemptuous” and had Neal arrested for criminal contempt. Bail was set at $50,000, but Neal was later released on his own recognizance.
The case made national news. (You can still find the Time magazine article online.)
Thirty-eight months, four special judges and a couple of stops at the State Supreme Court later, Neal was finally cleared of the contempt charge.
New ran for office a third time in 1976, but by then Republicans were apparently tired of all the drama. He came in fourth of four candidates in that year’s primary.
After his defeat, Judge New returned to private practice. He passed away in 1990.
A reminder: The first Blatchley Nature Study Club Spring Wildflower Walk will be Saturday, April 12 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the club’s sanctuary on Boulder Drive, just north of Potter’s Bridge. Follow the signs.