INDIANAPOLIS — The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana will be closed Friday in a delayed observance of the new Juneteenth National Independence Day, Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt announced Wednesday.
President Joe Biden signed the new federal holiday on June 17, two days before its observance. Because of to the short period of time between the signing of the bill and the actual holiday, the federal court for southern Indiana delayed the observance until this week.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas — two months after the Confederacy had surrendered.
The Court will also be closed on Monday in observation of Independence Day.
