Federal authorities have launched a new Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) designed at dismantling criminal cartels, foreign gangs and transnational criminal organizations operating in Kansas, Missouri and the greater Midwest.

Announced Thursday, June 12, 2025 by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, the new Kansas City-based regional HSTF will bring together federal agents, intelligence analysts and law enforcement partners under one umbrella to fight organized crime in America’s heartland.

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Two years after approving a tough-on-crime sentencing law, South Dakota is scrambling to deal with the price tag for that legislation: Housing thousands of additional inmates could require up to $2 billion to build new prisons in the next decade.

That’s a lot of money for a state with one of the lowest populations in the U.S., but a consultant said it’s needed to keep pace with an anticipated 34% surge of new inmates in the next decade as a result of South Dakota’s tough criminal justice laws. And while officials are grumbling about the cost, they don’t seem concerned with the laws that are driving the need even as national crime rates are dropping.

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The South Dakota Highway Patrol is reminding motorists of a new “Move Over” law, which will go into effect statewide on July 1. The updated legislation expands the requirements for drivers approaching vehicles stopped on or near the shoulder of a highway, particularly those displaying warning lights.

The new law mandates specific actions for drivers to enhance safety for emergency personnel, road crews, and disabled motorists.

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A flurry of fighting broke out again Tuesday in the maximum security building on the campus of the South Dakota State Penitentiary, according to the Department of Corrections.

The violence comes less than a week after a protest over prison security and the treatment of inmates, and less than a month after the last publicly acknowledged sparring between inmates on the prison grounds in Sioux Falls.

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The South Dakota Highway Patrol has announced its plans to conduct sobriety checkpoints in 14 counties throughout the state during June. The initiative aims to deter impaired driving and promote road safety as the summer season begins.

According to a release from the Highway Patrol, the checkpoints will be set up in the following counties: Beadle, Brookings, Brule, Butte, Codington, Day, Hanson, Hughes, Jackson, Jerauld, Lawrence, Lincoln, Pennington, and Union.

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South Dakota’s governor and attorney general separately visited the U.S.-Mexico border this week and announced efforts to involve the state in federal immigration enforcement.

During a news conference Wednesday with a coalition of Republican attorneys general in Arizona, Attorney General Marty Jackley said he has authorized the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, which he oversees, to pursue a 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The federal agency is within the Department of Homeland Security led by former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

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Anthony Thomas Lee Baker, 43, of Watertown, has been sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison for Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person, according to an announcement made yesterday by United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell. The sentencing by Judge Charles B. Kornmann took place on May 19, 2025.

Following his prison term, Baker will also serve 5 years of supervised release and has been ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. The forfeiture of the firearm involved was also mandated.

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On January 20, 2025, as Donald Trump retook the presidency, advocates across the criminal justice reform field were all asking the same question: in his second term, would Donald Trump be a friend or foe to reform?

Despite President Trump’s “tough-on-crime” and “tough-on-the-border” campaign and the numerous actions he took to undermine criminal justice progress during his first term, it was a reasonable question. Trump’s first term saw the passage of several important federal criminal justice reforms—most notably the First Step Act, as well as the reinstatement of Pell Grants for incarcerated students, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, support for second-chance hiring, and an executive order on police reform. Throughout his first term, criminal justice reform also enjoyed strong bipartisan support at the state and local levels, with landmark reforms to bail, sentencing, conviction records, fines and fees, and more across the country.

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Who knew a leisurely stroll with your adorable canine companion could land you in jail? As a proud dog dad, I can personally attest to the shock of learning that walking a dog using a standard six-foot leash on Supreme Court grounds—where the maximum permitted length is a mere four feet—is a federal crime. Despite the reality that there are no signs putting potential violators on notice, use a standard-length dog leash and you could be staring down sixty days in jail.

If committing crimes with cuddly puppies isn’t your thing, bringing a stroller into the restroom at the National Zoological Park can also land you up to sixty days in jail. What’s a single parent supposed to do? Leave their baby unattended and vulnerable while they take care of essential business?

Continue reading “From Dog Leashes to Potty Breaks: Are We All Unwitting Criminals?” →

In 2001, Shawn Hatcher was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison for murder. Prosecutors used a Tennessee law to charge him with a crime he says his brother committed. He was 17 years old.

The concept of criminal responsibility for conduct of another isn’t particularly new or unheard of. It’s been a part of American common law – the sets of laws inherited from past judicial decisions – since at least the 19th century. And it’s been an official part of Tennessee’s state code for decades.

Continue reading “Tennessee can charge people for crimes they didn’t commit, advocates want reform” →