HB 1212 (Stand Your Ground), has been resurrected in the Senate using a controversial “smoke out” rule just hours after it was killed off in the Senate Judiciary committee. The bill will now have the chance to be debated by the Senate at large. Continue reading “Stand your ground law, shot down”
State senators must decide in the coming days whether South Dakota’s 19th-century stand your ground laws permitting people to use of force in self-defense are clear or should be made stronger.
The state House of Representatives voted 61-7 Thursday night for HB 1212 to strengthen them. Every Republican in the chamber backed the legislation, while every Democrat there opposed it.
The legislation is patterned after Florida law, according to sponsor Kevin Jensen. He said it’s “not really” a ‘stand your ground’ measure. The six-page bill however uses the specific phrase “has the right to stand his or her ground” in several places.
“If you look at the bill carefully, this is not a gun bill. The word ‘gun, firearm, pistol’ doesn’t even exist in the bill. Why? Because self-defense can be with anything. You can defend yourself with a knife, a baseball bat, a tire iron, and your fists, when it comes down to this use of force, and that’s what the whole thing was about, was clarifying use of force,” Jensen said.
Read the full story on KELOLAND.
A teenager’s drowning death last year is prompting lawmakers in Iowa to consider making it a crime to fail to call emergency responders to report when someone appears to be in serious danger.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen reported that the family of Noah Herring supports the bill. Herring was 15 when he drowned in April in Coralville Reservoir. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said three teens and an adult were present, but none placed a call to get help.
Read the full story at KCCI.
The South Dakota Senate on Wednesday approved a pair of proposals aimed at criminal justice reform by bolstering training for law enforcement officers and allowing young convicts sentenced to life in prison a chance for parole after they reach the age of 50. Continue reading “SD Senate clears criminal justice reform bills”
Republicans are enthusiastic about parts of the bill, including increased penalties for assaulting police officers and cutting off state funding for cities that cut their police budgets. Continue reading “Reynolds hopes criminal justice bill will bring people together”
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday promised she will honor the will of voters to legalize pot for medical use, just not this year. Continue reading “Noem plans to delay medical pot law a year”
A committee of South Dakota lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a proposal to push judges to equally split the custody of children between divorced parents, after opponents argued it could tie victims of abuse to their former partners. Continue reading “Lawmakers kill bill to push joint custody in divorces”
A bill making its way through the South Dakota Legislature would limit the time that children in need of supervision and who break court orders can be detained.
South Dakota residents approved sports betting in Deadwood by referendum last November. Continue reading “SD Sports Betting Proposal Includes Mobile”
A bill introduced in the South Dakota Senate would change the death penalty law and who can be sentenced to die for a crime.
Continue reading “Senator introduces changes to S.D. death penalty law”