Gov. Daniels Issues Pardons, Including One for “Automobile Banditry” (leading to a digression by me into the 1921 Session)

Gov. Daniels recently issued a number of Executive Orders granting pardons for individuals who committed the following crimes: 1992 battery, 1963 burglary, 1999 battery, 1989 – 1995 Operating While Suspended (9 times), 1973 shoplifting, 1978 theft, 1971 assault, battery, and theft, 1955 “Automobile Banditry”, 1958 Burglary, 1955 “vehicle taking”, 1979 dealing marijuana, 1965, burglary, and 1969 burglary.

“Automobile Banditry” is a new one to me. The first Google result was a news archive result from 1921 with a headline “Automobile Banditry Is A Crime Now Covered By Indiana Statute”. The crime was defined as “use of an automobile by two or more persons to accomplish a crime or to escape from the scene of a crime.”

Other tidbits – the article reports that 280 new laws resulted from 832 bills introduced in the 1921 session. One bill that died would have amended the state’s blue laws to leave no “loophole for Sunday movies or baseball.” The 1921 session featured Indiana’s first female representative, Julia Nelson of Delaware County.