The stunning leak of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft majority opinion has caused speculation that the person behind the leak could be held criminally liable, but one expert is skeptical the leak itself violates any laws.

“First, without more, I don’t think there is such a crime,” Orin Kerr, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said on Twitter Monday. “There are criminal laws against leaking classified information, of course. But draft opinions are not classified.”

Continue reading “Leaking SCOTUS draft opinion overturning Roe is not a crime, expert says” →

As the Supreme Court deliberates Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, states across the country are preparing for the possible overturn of the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling.

Over the past few months, state legislatures have passed a variety of restrictions in anticipation of the Dobbs decision. On Thursday, a federal judge blocked a 15-week abortion ban that included reporting requirements from clinics in the state. Kentucky’s two providers said they would not be able to comply with the new reporting guidelines and the ban would have effectively eliminated access to abortion in the state.

Continue reading “Abortion: What the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade means for SD” →

South Dakota has pages of statutes when it comes to crimes that will land someone on the sex offender registry.

But exactly how those intersect with daily life isn’t black and white.

Continue reading “Sex Crimes Defined in South Dakota” →

Continue reading “Immigration: Lesterville Case Decision Touches On Issues” →

It was a blood-soaked night that rocked South Dakota and reverberated around the nation: A mother and two of her children shot dead in their beds on a farmstead near Mount Vernon, South Dakota, in the early morning hours of Sept. 8, 1981.

Her husband, shot through the arm but alive, called law enforcement to the scene. He reported that a masked intruder, who must have killed his wife and boys, had also surprised and shot him, then left, leaving him unconscious.

“Someone has shot my family,” Mathis told law enforcement.

Continue reading “Mathis killings examined in new book” →

According to the United States Department of Justice, 1.6 million violent crimes were committed throughout the country in 2020. This was a decline—there were 2 million such crimes the year before. While there has been some improvement in levels of crime, that still leaves many individuals who have been victimized to deal with the trauma associated with those crimes. And that doesn’t include the victim’s loved ones and family members who may also suffer as a result.

That begs the question: What rights do violent crime victims have within the justice system?

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Given that April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, AAA wants motorists to be aware that, despite perceptions to the contrary, cellphones are not to blame for many of the fatal crashes involving a distracted driver. This is not to say that cellphones are not a significant and potentially deadly distraction, but many other distractions are also cause for concern.

According to the latest federal crash data, confirmed smartphone use accounts for about 12 percent of all fatal crashes involving a distracted driver. Although it is widely accepted that distracted driving crashes caused by cellphone use are highly underreported, the data clearly indicates there are many other distractions that warrant our attention as well.

Continue reading “Distracted Driving Awareness Month–It’s Not the Phone Alone” →

“Murder” in the metaverse isn’t a 25-to-life prison sentence — or even a felony — but it could be a crime, some law experts believe.

The Sun spoke to two lawyers, who have written about crime in the metaverse, and a former Manhattan prosecutor turned law professor about violence in the virtual world and if they can be prosecuted.

Continue reading “Metaverse experts reveal if you can murder in VR – and whether you can be punished” →

Hyde County Sheriff Mike Volek was the first responding officer on the scene the night that South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg struck and killed Joe Boever on September 12, 2020.

Volek and his actions that night were central components in the investigation into Ravnsborg, from his failure to find Boever’s body in the ditch that night despite the presence of a still lit flashlight visible on the shoulder that he told investigators he did not examine, to loaning his personal vehicle to Ravnsborg to drive home that night after the crash.

Continue reading “What’s it take to be a South Dakota Sheriff?” →

After a century-long effort, lynching is now considered a federal hate crime. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act — signed into law by President Biden this week — is meant to hold people convicted of hate crimes accountable. But legal experts warn that the law may not be as effective as intended.

Continue reading “Experts warn the new anti-lynching law may not actually help prevent hate crimes” →