The Iowa House approved several bills Wednesday that are part of House GOP’s “tough on crime” package introduced earlier in the session, including a measure requiring a 20-year minimum prison sentence for repeat offenders.

House File 2542 was one of the major proposals put forward by House Republicans in January that aims to prevent “career criminals” from committing crimes in Iowa. The bill would create a “three strikes” system for committing certain crimes, in which a person would be subject to a minimum 20-year prison sentence if they accumulate three “points” under the system.

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Two bills to regulate digital currency in South Dakota are on their way to Gov. Larry Rhoden’s desk after supportive votes in both chambers of the legislature.

One bill is meant to curb scams involving digital currency kiosks; the other would define cryptocurrency as a seizable asset.

U.S. citizens lost $9.3 billion in crypto assets in 2025, Attorney General Marty Jackley told lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee in support of the latter bill. South Dakotans were scammed out of $13.8 million in digital currency that year, he said.

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The Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in an important gun case that has united an array of strange bedfellows, from conservative gun rights groups to liberal civil liberties groups. At issue is a federal law making it a crime for drug users to possess a firearm. It’s the same law that was used to prosecute then-President Joe Biden’s son for illegal gun possession — only this case involves marijuana use and gun ownership.

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Could a North Dakota law that makes it illegal for people to conceal their identities in certain situations also apply to masked immigration agents?

One University of North Dakota School of Law professor says yes — though he noted part of the law presents serious First Amendment concerns.

Steven Morrison, who teaches criminal law, said they could be charged with the crime “if it were to be found that ICE agents are out there essentially intending to violate the law and wearing masks with the intent to conceal their identities.”

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The average American is estimated to commit multiple felonies a day without knowing it. This isn’t a punchline or a hypothetical nightmare — it’s a reflection of how vast and unmanageable our federal criminal code has become. The body of federal criminal law has grown so large that no person or institution has been able to definitively count how many crimes currently exist. The result is a justice system that is unfocused, inconsistent, and increasingly ineffective.

An overgrown criminal code does not necessarily target those who pose real threats to public safety. Instead, it risks turning everyday Americans into criminals for offenses they had no idea they were committing.

Continue reading “When Everything Is a Crime: Why the Count the Crimes to Cut Act Matters” →

South Dakota saw a 6.03 percent decrease in reported criminal offenses in 2025 compared to the previous year, according to the newly released Crime in South Dakota 2025 report.

The annual report recorded 64,261 criminal offenses statewide in 2025, down from 68,388 in 2024. Drug‑related crimes also fell by 6.25 percent, with 6,358 drug offenses reported last year compared to 6,782 in 2024.

Attorney General Marty Jackley said the downward trend demonstrates the state’s continued emphasis on public safety.

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A South Dakota House committee on Wednesday killed legislation that would have eliminated the death penalty in the state, voting 10-to-1 to send the bill to the “41st day” — the Legislature’s term for defeating a measure.

House Bill 1268, introduced by Rep. Tim Reisch, R-Howard, would have repealed capital punishment by removing the death penalty as an authorized sentence for Class A felonies — the state’s most serious crimes. The bill’s defeat keeps the death penalty on the books in South Dakota, where one inmate currently sits on death row.

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As the search for Nancy Guthrie stretches into a second week, her alleged captors are reportedly seeking a $6 million Bitcoin ransom, illustrating how cryptocurrency has reshaped the business of extortion.

Guthrie, 84, the mother of NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie, was abducted from her home in Arizona, with investigators later confirming only limited details about a ransom demand.

Continue reading “Nancy Guthrie case: Why criminals are turning to cryptocurrency for ransoms” →

A bill on fertility fraud inspired by a Netflix documentary is on its way to the South Dakota House of Representatives after clearing its first screening committee Friday morning.

House Bill 1164 would make the knowing use by a licensed medical provider of their own reproductive material or the reproductive material of another person to inseminate a patient without their written consent both a crime and a civil cause of action.

A doctor who uses their own sperm to inseminate someone would not be able to use consent for the use of an anonymous donor as a defense against prosecution or a civil lawsuit.

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Two pieces of legislation are going to South Dakota’s House and Senate floors with different levels of increased penalties for disturbing worshippers.

One bill, introduced by Rep. Brandei Schaefbauer, R-Aberdeen, would create a new felony crime of entering or remaining in a place of worship with the intent to “menace or harass congregants or employees,” or for “the purpose of political intimidation of or the incitement of fear of violence in those attending.”

Continue reading “Disrupting worship services could become a felony as dueling bills advance to chamber floors” →