--- title: "James Patrick Hanlon | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/james-patrick-hanlon" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # James Patrick Hanlon U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana - State: Indiana - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, S.D. Indiana, 2018-present - Judge Hanlon has issued significant rulings, including a 2021 injunction blocking Indiana's "abortion reversal law" while it proceeded through the courts - President Donald Trump nominated Hanlon to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on April 10, 2018, to fill the seat vacated by Judge William T. Lawrence - Adjunct professor, Indiana University McKinney School of Law, 2010-2011 - Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of Indiana, 2001-2006 - assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of Indiana (2001–2006) - He then served as an associate in the labor and employment law practice group at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Chicago — 1998–2001 - Law Clerk, District Court, N.D. Indiana, 1997-1998 - Began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Robert Lowell Miller Jr. of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana ### Education - Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Valparaiso University School of Law in 1996, where he held the role of an editor of the law review - DePauw University — B.A. (1992) ### Additional information - In June 2026, he ordered the immediate release of Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-American community leader, from immigration custody, citing substantial First Amendment concerns and health risks during detention - Private practice, Indianapolis, IN, 2006-2018 - handling both civil and criminal cases, trying twelve jury trials and two bench trials, and arguing multiple appeals before the Seventh Circuit In 2006, Hanlon joined Baker & Daniels LLP (later Faegre Baker Daniels LLP) as a partner and co-chair of the White-Collar Defense and Investigations practice - Private practice, Chicago, IL, 1998-2001 - Private practice, Chicago, IL, 1996-1997 - James Patrick "J. P." Hanlon was born in 1970 in Evanston, Illinois - Date of birth: 1970-01-01 - During his private practice, he led corporate internal investigations, compliance reviews, and represented clients in government enforcement proceedings - He also provided pro bono representation to refugees, domestic violence victims, and criminal defendants - Birth place: Evanston, IL ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/5375106) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/5375106) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/5375106) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8582/james-patrick-hanlon/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8582/james-patrick-hanlon/) - [Wikidata: James Patrick Hanlon](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51735958) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/james-patrick-hanlon", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/james-patrick-hanlon", "name": "James Patrick Hanlon | KnowJudges", "description": "James Patrick Hanlon, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.