It often starts with suspicion: Why didn’t she call for an ambulance when the bleeding started? What if she didn’t want the baby? Maybe she took something — or inquired about abortion pills?
How a person handles a pregnancy loss — and where it occurs — can mean the difference between a private medical issue and a criminal charge for abuse of a corpse, child neglect or even murder.
A South Dakota summer legislative study committee has endorsed a bill that would require users to prove their age with identification documents to access online pornography.
The Study Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Regulation of Internet Access by Minors made the decision at its final meeting on Wednesday in Pierre.
It also scrapped plans for bills that would aim to protect children from the harms of social media and other addictive apps.
Prosecutors play a vital role in the criminal justice system, determining not just which cases to pursue but also what charges to file and penalties to seek. Over the past decade, some prosecutors have developed approaches that aim to reduce racial and economic disparities and unjust outcomes in the legal system — such as excessive sentences or the criminalization of poverty through cash bail — while preserving public safety.
Far from a unified group, these prosecutors bring many different approaches to their work. They span the political spectrum and are found in urban and rural jurisdictions alike. They are often grouped under the label “progressive prosecutors” or “reform-minded prosecutors.” For the purposes of this analysis, we use the term “pro-reform prosecutors” to indicate chief district attorneys, county attorneys, commonwealth attorneys, and state attorneys who campaigned on or promised to reimagine the role of their office to broadly reduce unjust disparities in the justice system and decrease unnecessary incarceration.
Continue reading “Myths and Realities: Prosecutors and Criminal Justice Reform”
The University of Iowa College of Law this semester started a Technology Law Clinic after adding Megan Graham, an associate clinical professor, to the faculty in January. Graham, a nationally recognized expert in technology and surveillance issues, is the director of the clinic, which focuses on the role of police technology in criminal cases.
Graham did her undergraduate work at Georgetown University and earned a bachelor of science in Foreign Service in culture and politics. Then she received a master’s degree in comparative ethnic conflict from Queens University in Belfast before going to New York University School of Law. She previously taught in the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at University of California Berkeley School of Law.
Attorney General Marty Jackley is resisting an attempt to move South Dakota’s lawsuit against the NCAA into federal court.
Jackley and the South Dakota Board of Regents sued the NCAA last month, alleging that a proposed $2.8 billion settlement meant to compensate college athletes would unfairly burden smaller colleges, including schools like South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota.
Continue reading “Jackley opposes attempt to move lawsuit against NCAA to federal court”
The first thing to know about South Dakota’s recreational marijuana ballot measure is what it doesn’t do: legalize marijuana sales.
That would require later legislative action.
Initiated Measure 29 would lay the groundwork for that potential action by legalizing the possession, use and free distribution of up to 2 ounces of marijuana for adults 21 and older, which is currently a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Continue reading “IM 29: If voters decriminalize marijuana, lawmakers would make the call on sales”
To protect South Dakotans from banking scams, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley and South Dakota Bankers Association (SDBA) President Karl Adam have partnered to educate bank customers about potential scams. This initiative is part of the broader American Bankers Association’s “Banks Never Ask” campaign, which focuses on anti-phishing and scamming awareness.
“The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives reports daily about telephone and internet scams hurting many South Dakotans,” said Attorney General Jackley. “We appreciate the South Dakota Bankers Association’s effort to educate bank customers about such scams and are happy to support this campaign.”
Continue reading “SD Attorney General Partners with Bankers Association to Combat Bank Scams”
In a groundbreaking initiative, twelve minimum-custody male offenders housed in Sioux Falls have enrolled in a semester-long welding certificate program at Southeast Technical College this fall. This program is funded through a partnership between the South Dakota Department of Labor and the South Dakota Department of Corrections (DOC).
The welding program is part of the broader Supportive Approach for Fostering Education and Reentry (SAFER) South Dakota reentry program, launched by the DOC earlier this year. “Statistics show that an offender can be even more successful with the proper education, giving them the opportunity and a new outlook on life,” said Scott Day, SAFER SD Program Manager. “Programs that can give them technical skills can give them an even greater opportunity for success.”
Continue reading “South Dakota Prison Offenders Enroll in Welding Certificate Program”
A deputy public defender from Sioux Falls will head up the recently created state Office of Indigent Legal Services, according to an announcement Wednesday from the Unified Judicial System.
Christopher Miles, 35, will leave the Minnehaha County Public Defender’s Office to lead a team of four lawyers, a paralegal and a legal secretary. The office in Sioux Falls will primarily be tasked with representing those who cannot afford an attorney in their appeals to the South Dakota Supreme Court, but will also serve as a data hub for public defense and work on ways to improve its delivery across the state.
Continue reading “Q&A: Meet South Dakota’s first state public defender”
Leaders within the state court system asked for patience on Wednesday as they pledged to address deficiencies in South Dakota’s system for delivering legal representation to people who can’t afford lawyers.
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen and other officials conducted a virtual press conference two days after the release of a report that outlined challenges facing the state’s public defense framework.