INDIANA'S DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND GROWING CHILD WELFARE CRISIS UNDER LORETTA RUSH'S RULE

It's not a relevant picture or is it? It is as provocative as all truth is. Hunter and his ex-wife lived in Long Beach, Indiana. If there wasn't DV, she would have been justified. LOVIN' those Tattoos!

We all know the dismal record of Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush in attorney discipline and the failed regulation of lawyers, including many charged with crimes. Some appear protected, while others are attacked, denied basic rights, and subjected to what critics consider abusive courtroom show trials. Even in the face of new evidence, serious questions remain about why apparent injustices are never corrected.

She has failed, in our view, to lead Indiana's judges and legal profession to even a normal level of respectability, undermining the very fabric of the rule of law through erroneous rulings, reversals, and failures of judicial accountability. The Hoosier Enquirer considers her leadership a fraud upon the public's expectations and her tenure a disgrace. In our opinion, she was never qualified to serve in this position, much less remain for so long as what we consider Indiana's worst justice and worst chief justice. Her record has also been a setback to the reputation of women in the legal profession.

She has become an embarrassment to this once-great state, which we believe has been overshadowed by her incompetence, poor judgment, and failure to command respect. Her record on child welfare, alleged child trafficking, and questionable adoption practices raises disturbing questions, although the statistics and published reports do not establish her involvement in child trafficking or child theft.

And now comes another troubling chapter: Loretta Rush's dismal record on domestic violence, which critics may reasonably question as yet another train wreck under her judicial leadership. Go figure.

LORETTA RUSH MUST GO.

Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush has spent more than 12 years leading a judiciary facing serious questions about its administration of justice. The Hoosier Enquirer has repeatedly criticized her leadership, particularly in four areas:

• Attorney discipline: Allegations of selective enforcement, inconsistent punishment, denial of due process and disciplinary findings that remain disputed even after new evidence emerges.

• Judicial accountability: Questions about erroneous rulings, inadequate oversight and whether judges face meaningful consequences for serious mistakes.

• Child welfare and adoption: A 30% surge in foster care entries between 2023 and 2024, raising concerns about parental rights, placement decisions and the financial interests surrounding child welfare.

  
  

And NOW, Domestic violence: A persistent public safety crisis involving thousands of protective-order petitions, preventable tragedies and questions about whether Indiana's courts adequately protect victims.

These criticisms do not establish personal misconduct by Rush. But the Hoosier Enquirer believes they demand a comprehensive public examination of her leadership. The chief justice cannot be held responsible for every crime or every lower-court ruling, but she can be questioned about the judicial system she has led since 2014.

Domestic Violence: A Crisis that Cannot Be Ignored, Not Even by the "silent as church-mice" Media in Indianapolis and Around Indiana.

The numbers are disturbing. In 2024, Indiana recorded 83 domestic violence-related fatalities arising from 61 incidents, according to the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the state's Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. Six of those killed were children.

Rush herself acknowledged the seriousness of the problem in a 2023 Indiana Supreme Court opinion, S.D. v. G.D., describing domestic and family violence as a public health crisis that had intensified. The court reported more than 37,000 protective-order filings in 2022, an increase of more than 3% from the preceding year.

That acknowledgment raises a difficult question: After years of recognizing the problem, are Indiana's courts producing better outcomes for victims and their children?

Indiana has implemented statewide electronic protective-order systems and judicial resources intended to improve victim safety. Those measures deserve recognition. But the public also deserves evidence that protective orders are enforced, repeat offenders are held accountable and warning signs are acted upon before another family is destroyed.

When Domestic Violence Leads to Foster Care

The consequences of domestic violence often extend far beyond the immediate victim. Children who witness abuse may experience lasting trauma, and dangerous home conditions can lead to intervention by the Indiana Department of Child Services.

Indiana's foster care entries increased from slightly more than 6,000 in federal fiscal year 2023 to nearly 7,900 in 2024, a 30% increase. Nationally, entries declined approximately 2%. The number of Indiana children in care at year-end also increased, from approximately 10,500 to nearly 12,000.

Those figures do not tell us how many removals resulted specifically from domestic violence. That information should be examined before drawing conclusions about the relationship between domestic abuse and foster care growth.

But one question deserves particular attention: When the state removes a child from an unsafe home, is the goal genuinely to protect that child and reunite the family when safely possible, or do institutional incentives sometimes work against that outcome?

From Foster Care to Adoption: Follow the Money

Every child entering state custody becomes part of a publicly funded system involving social workers, attorneys, foster care providers, courts and sometimes private adoption organizations. Those financial relationships deserve independent scrutiny, particularly when a child is permanently separated from biological parents.

The Hoosier Enquirer believes Indiana should examine whether unlawful payments, conflicts of interest or improper financial incentives have influenced any child placement or adoption proceedings. It should also investigate interstate adoption arrangements, including placements involving families on the West Coast or elsewhere.

There is no established evidence that Indiana is systematically selling foster children, that young boys command particular prices, or that same-sex adoptive couples are purchasing trafficked children. Adoptive parents, whether same-sex or opposite-sex couples, should be judged by the legality of their conduct and their ability to provide safe homes—not by their sexual orientation.

The proper investigative question is whether any person or organization has profited illegally from placing children, regardless of who ultimately adopted them.

Indiana's own adoption statistics show 1,903 DCS adoptions in state fiscal year 2023, compared with 1,673 in 2026. More foster care entries do not automatically mean more adoptions, and the available numbers do not establish a trafficking pipeline.

Rush Must Answer for Judicial Leadership

In June 2025, the Indiana Supreme Court addressed serious procedural problems in a child welfare case, J.S. v. Department of Child Services. The unanimous opinion, written by Rush, emphasized that courts must independently examine evidence and protect the legal rights of parents and children.

That ruling shows that the Supreme Court can correct errors. But it also raises a broader question: How many families lack the resources to appeal when lower courts get it wrong?

The same concern applies to attorney discipline and domestic violence proceedings. A fair judicial system must correct mistakes, examine new evidence and protect constitutional rights even when doing so is inconvenient or embarrassing to the institution.

The Hoosier Enquirer believes Rush's leadership should be subjected to an independent review encompassing attorney discipline, domestic violence protection, child welfare proceedings and judicial accountability. That review should include actual case records, financial disclosures, appellate outcomes and testimony from affected families.

Indiana needs more than speeches about justice. It needs proof that justice is being delivered.

After more than a dozen years as chief justice, Rush has had ample opportunity to demonstrate effective leadership. The Hoosier Enquirer believes a change in leadership is overdue.

Loretta Rush must go. Indiana's children, families, attorneys and citizens deserve a judicial system they can trust. There must be some CASA or Court Whistleblowers who want to contact the Police and FBI with what you know. We know you are out there.