Indiana again in search of jurist for high court

INDIANAPOLIS – With just seven years under his belt, Justice Steven David is the old-timer on the Indiana Supreme Court.

In 2010 he kicked off a carousel of arrivals as he replaced former Justice Theodore Boehm.

Three more new justices followed – Mark Massa in April 2012, Loretta Rush in November 2012 and Geoffrey Slaughter in June 2016.

Now the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission begins interviewing Monday for a fifth new justice – replacing retiring Justice Robert Rucker, whose last day is in May.

The result is a wholesale change in the Indiana Supreme Court in just seven years.

“I never could have imagined this,” David said. “I thought maybe one or two retirements over maybe 10 years. It is a big change.

“Each of them have assured me it isn’t me personally,” he joked.

The overhaul is pretty novel though muted a bit because Indiana has only five justices while 35 states have between 7 and 9.