A viral photo of Pope Francis walking outside the Vatican in a white puffer jacket was circulating on the internet in March 2023. It was a youthful and stylish look for the pontiff that immediately changed my impression of him.

Within hours, news sources reported that the photo was fake and created using generative artificial intelligence. My initial reaction was disappointment and amusement. With the passage of time, I now view that photo as an inflection point.

Continue reading “Deepfakes Are Hard to Punish—A Federal Criminal Law Can Fix That” →

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that he has sent letters to 14 operators of illegal gambling websites, directing them to stop offering online gambling in Minnesota because they may violate Minnesota consumer-protection laws that prohibit deceptive, fraudulent, unfair or unconscionable practices. These websites include social sweepstakes casinos that use virtual coins to play casino games for cash and prizes, as well as websites offering sports betting, poker, and other types of gambling, all of which are prohibited under Minnesota’s laws (Minn. St. 609.755-609.76). An example of the letters that Attorney General Ellison sent are available here: social sweepstakes casino letter – undisguised gambling website letter.

Continue reading “Attorney General Ellison directs illegal gambling websites to stop offering services in Minnesota” →

A 15-member task force established by South Dakota’s attorney general will review the state’s open meetings laws and ponder possible changes.

South Dakota already has an Open Meetings Commission that reviews alleged violations of the state’s open meetings laws and can issue disciplinary letters to offending government bodies. The commission was established in 2004 and is made up of five state’s attorneys.

Continue reading “South Dakota attorney general convenes task force to review open meetings laws” →

In St. Paul, hard work should be rewarded with good pay.

But too often, in Minnesota’s own capital city, ordinances that are supposed to protect workers cannot be enforced, because the city lacks the power to use civil penalties.

My organization, the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, brings together over 100 local unions and nearly 16,000 union members who live in the city. The members of the unions I work for know the importance of having the right tools to enforce the rules, and conversely the precarity of not having a way to hold bad actors responsible for their actions.

Continue reading “Minnesota cities need civil and criminal citations at their disposal” →

An inmate died in Department of Corrections custody this week, adding another name to a list of in-custody deaths that’s higher than the state has seen in recent memory.

Travis Long Fox, 33, died Friday in a Sioux Falls hospital. He’d been there since Tuesday, when he was found unresponsive in his cell at the South Dakota State Penitentiary.

Continue reading “High prison death toll continues after 33-year-old man found unresponsive in cell” →

As the federal government carries out aggressive immigration raids in major cities across the U.S., state officials are facing off with the federal government over a centuries-old question: When can states prosecute federal officials for violating state criminal law?

A statement from former speaker Nancy Pelosi and California Rep. Kevin Mullin on Oct. 23 asserted that “state and local authorities may arrest federal agents if they break California law—and if they are convicted, the President cannot pardon them.” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has formed a commission to address “unlawful attacks” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. New York’s attorney general recently set up a portal for the public to share footage of ICE interactions, stating that the office is “committed to reviewing these reports and assessing any violations of law.” And local officials in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Boston have stated that they will pursue legal action if federal officers break the law.

Continue reading “Are Federal Officials Immune From State Prosecution?” →

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says the indictment of a former driver’s license examiner should inspire legislators to make it a state crime to possess pornographic images of real adults created by artificial intelligence.

Mark Charles Rathbun, 67, was a driver’s license examiner for the state in Aberdeen until last week.

Last Thursday, he was charged with solicitation of rape, child pornography possession and unauthorized use of computer systems after an investigation by Jackley’s office. If convicted on all charges, Rathbun could face up to 37 years in prison.

Continue reading “Attorney general charges former state employee with computer misuse, child porn, rape solicitation” →

Gov. Tim Walz joined other state and local officials in Mankato Monday to break ground on a new regional headquarters and crime lab for the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

The facility will be located near the Blue Earth County Justice Center, and it will serve much of southern Minnesota, improving forensic testing and evidence analysis response times. It will also serve as a regional training hub for the state and local police departments. It’s expected to be operational by early 2027.

Continue reading “Walz breaks ground on new $67 million regional BCA headquarters and crime lab in Mankato” →

South Dakota’s hate crime law states that it is illegal to harass or harm someone based on their race, ethnicity, religion, ancestry or national origin. It is a class 6 felony, with a maximum punishment of two years behind bars. But crimes against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity are not included.

“I think we’ve seen, probably over the last decade, there’s been kind of a rise of political rhetoric, you know, targeting the queer community in South Dakota, specifically the transgender and gender diverse community,” said Anna Brenden, president of Sioux Falls Pride.

Continue reading “Does SD’s hate crime law need to change?” →

When Patrick Scullark was arrested, he was not wearing his fanny pack. He had taken it off and handed it to a friend before being handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car. But police nevertheless conducted a thorough search of the bag without a warrant. Scullark argued that the warrantless search violated his Fourth Amendment rights, but on appeal, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the police’s examination as a valid search incident to arrest.

Continue reading “Scullark v. Iowa Brief: Limit Searches Incident to Arrest to Protect Homeless Americans’ Rights” →