Roger Owen DeBruler

(Aug. 5, 1934–Feb. 13, 2017). Roger DeBruler was the longest-serving justice on the Indiana Supreme Court in the 20th century and the third-longest serving justice ever. He and his wife, Karen Steenerson DeBruler, were leaders in the revitalization of the historic Lockerbie Square neighborhood.

DeBruler, who was born and raised in Evansville, received undergraduate and law degrees from Indiana University in 1958 and 1960, respectively, and then moved to Indianapolis to practice law with prominent attorneys John J. Dillon, later Democratic attorney general of Indiana, and L. Keith Bulen, later Indiana Republican national committeeman. In 1963, Governor Matthew E. Welsh appointed him to be judge of the Steuben Circuit Court in northeastern Indiana. After Indiana Supreme Court judge Donald R. Mote died in office, Governor Roger D. Branigin appointed DeBruler to replace him, effective September 30, 1968.

When the DeBrulers moved back to Indianapolis, they immediately took a deep interest in the city’s historic Lockerbie Square neighborhood. Void of owner-occupied housing at the time, the DeBrulers, Bobby and Helen Small, and Kenneth and Diana Stroud became pioneers in the resurgence of what is now one of the city’s premier neighborhoods. The Smalls and the Strouds renovated existing structures on Lockerbie Street for their residences; the DeBrulers built a new house for theirs on Vermont Street.

During his 28-year tenure on the Indiana Supreme Court, DeBruler authored nearly 900 decisions and also wrote approximately 600 separate opinions in which he dissented from the Court’s majority decisions. One of the things for which DeBruler is best known is that many of his dissenting opinions ultimately became law. This happened in a variety of ways.

First, the United States Supreme Court reversed several decisions of the Indiana Supreme Court, adopting DeBruler’s dissents. Second, the United States Supreme Court adopted the same position in appeals from other courts that DeBruler had earlier taken in dissent in Indiana cases. Third, and most significantly, as time progressed, new justices on the Indiana Supreme Court adopted former DeBruler dissenting opinions as the decisions of the Court.

DeBruler’s contributions to Indiana death penalty law rank among his most important. He originally was of the view that capital punishment violated the Indiana Constitution. After his position prevailed, he wrote many majority and dissenting opinions about the duties of a judge when considering whether to impose a death sentence. Over time, these opinions came to comprise the canon of sentencing law in Indiana capital cases.

Finally, DeBruler authored the Court’s decisions in several landmark decisions, including ones allocating economic responsibility for a utility’s costs of abandoning a planned nuclear power plant; affirming the constitutionality of Indiana’s pioneering medical malpractice reforms; and recognizing coverage for environmental damage in comprehensive general liability insurance policies.

Justice Roger DeBruler retired from the Indiana Supreme Court on August 8, 1996.

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