Legislation

Mike was involved in many legislative situations throughout his career. In 2016, Mike requested that Rep. Chris Judy create a new criminal felony penalty for "ransomware" in Indiana. Chris introduced H.B. 1444, which became the central focus of comprehensive "telecommunications" legislation. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed it into law on April 24, 2017. 

Mike was also chiefly responsible for the abolition in Indiana of the archaic common law “year-and-a-day” rule precluding certain murder prosecutions. 

Mike was behind the effort to create the original draft of the Indiana Medical Interference Act known as “Steve’s Law” (1999), making it a crime to interfere with medical services in Indiana (including a provision making it a Class C felony, at that time, to interfere with a doctor’s pharmaceutical prescription to a patient). 

More recently, Mike has been advocating for legislation that would make "porch piracy" a FELONY in Indiana. Currently, it can be charged as theft, but Mike wants to see it delineated as its own criminal felony offense.  It so frequently ends up being charged as a misdemeanor, that making it a criminal offense has very little deterrent effect, presently.