Mark Massa
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Mark S. Massa (born March 6, 1961) is an American lawyer who has served as an associate justice of the
Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana Statehouse. In Dec ...
since April 2, 2012, when he succeeded Justice Randall T. Shepard. Massa was born in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
and attended
Greendale High School Greendale High School is a four-year public high school in Greendale, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. Part of the Greendale School District, it serves students in grades 9 through 12. Extracurricular activities The Greendale High School marc ...
. He moved to Indiana in 1979 to attend
Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...
, from which he received a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in
Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...
in 1983. Massa interned at the ''
South Bend Tribune The ''South Bend Tribune'' is a daily newspaper and news website which is based in South Bend, Indiana. It is distributed in South Bend, Mishawaka, north central Indiana, and southwestern Michigan. It has been named as a "Blue Ribbon Newspaper ...
'' and ''
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...
'' before becoming a sportswriter for the ''
Evansville Courier & Press The ''Evansville Courier & Press'' is a daily newspaper based in Evansville, Indiana. It serves about 30,000 daily and 50,000 Sunday readers. History The ''Evansville Courier'' was founded in 1845 by William Newton, a young attorney. Its first ...
'', where he also covered the courts and local government. In 1985, he became a deputy press secretary and speechwriter for Governor
Robert D. Orr Robert Dunkerson Orr (November 17, 1917 – March 10, 2004) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 45th governor of Indiana from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, he served as United States Ambassador to Singap ...
.Indiana Courts Justice Biographies page for Mark Massa
He then attended the evening division of Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, and was a
law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...
for Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard from 1991 to 1993. Massa joined the Marion County Prosecutor's Office in Indianapolis. After serving as a deputy prosecutor for 15 years, including seven years as chief counsel to Prosecutor Scott Newman. Massa was an
assistant United States attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...
in the Southern District of Indiana, where he earned the Inspector General's Integrity Award from the Department of Health and Human Services. He served as general counsel to Governor Mitch Daniels, chaired the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, served on the Indianapolis Marion County Police Merit Board, and was executive director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute prior to his appointment to the supreme court. In March 2012, Governor
Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American Academic administration, academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician who served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. A Republican Party (United ...
appointed Massa to the Indiana Supreme Court. In 2018, Massa authored an opinion of the court holding that Indiana's shoreline on
Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
was open to all, barring adjacent property owners from excluding others from such land. August 23, 2023, Justice Massa joined th
4-1 decision
without written opinion, putting Indiana's near total abortion ban immediately into effect. In March 2024, Massa authored the majority opinion in ''Morales v. Rust'', a case in which John Rust, a would-be Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, challenged Indiana election law, which requires candidates on a primary election ballot to demonstrate party affiliation by either (1) having voted in the party’s two most recent primaries or (2) obtaining the county party chair’s certification of their party membership. Rust could not satisfy either of the Affiliation Statute requirements. Before his candidacy could be challenged, Rust sued Indiana election officials and the Jackson County Republican Party Chair in state court. He requested—and the trial court granted—a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Affiliation Statute against him. The trial court agreed with Rust that the challenged statute violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments by infringing his right of association; the Seventeenth Amendment by disenfranchising voters; Article 1, Section 23 of the Indiana Constitution by violating his equal-protection rights; the void-for-vagueness and overbreadth doctrines by failing to give fair notice of prohibited conduct and by overly restricting protected speech; and the Indiana Constitution’s amendment process by adding eligibility requirements for candidacy. The trial court also found the county Republican chair’s refusal to certify Rust’s membership was invalid under the Affiliation Statute according to canons of statutory interpretation. On direct appeal, the Indiana Supreme Court rejected the trial court's ruling and upheld the Affiliation Statute. Writing for the court, Justice Massa concluded that it does not violate the federal or state constitutions, including the right to free association under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Applying the ''Anderson-Burdick'' framework that applies in First and Fourteenth Amendment challenges to state election laws, the court concluded that the Affiliation Statute passes constitutional muster. Explaining that Rust does not have a “fundamental right” to run for U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee but “still enjoys a statutory right to appear on the general-election ballot as an independent, Libertarian, or write-in candidate,” the court determined that the Affiliation Statute “imposes a reasonable and nondiscriminatory restriction on Rust’s right to be on the primary election ballot.” The court then concluded that the state’s “important regulatory interests”—including “safeguarding parties from forced inclusion of unwanted members and candidates,” “sustaining the identifiability of political parties,” “fostering the health and ‘stability of their political systems,’” and “protect ngthe integrity of the election process”—justify the restriction. Justice Goff, joined by Chief Justice Rush, dissented. Describing the law as “legislative overreach,” the dissent concluded that the Affiliation Statute violates the First Amendment. Taking aim at the dissent, the court emphasized that it applied First Amendment doctrine more faithfully, while the dissent “express dpolicy preferences” and would “assert[]” “raw judicial power” to “undermine[]” the will of the people and their elected representatives who enacted the statute. In response, Rust filed a petition for certiorari to U.S. Supreme Court. On October 7, 2024, the Court denied Rust's certiorari request.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massa, Mark 1961 births Living people 21st-century American judges Lawyers from Milwaukee Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court Indiana Republicans Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni Assistant United States attorneys