During a search of Penelope Harris’s Bronx apartment in 2010, police found 10 grams of cannabis. Even in the days before cannabis legalization in New York, that tiny amount fell below the legal threshold for a misdemeanor, according to The New York Times.

But that brief interaction with the police, which resulted in no criminal charges against Harris, spiraled into disastrous consequences for her and her family. Acting on a referral from police, the child welfare system—which some advocates insist is more accurately termed “the family policing system”—removed Harris’s son from her custody and placed him in foster care. The agency investigated her for neglect, and only returned her son on the condition that she agree to random drug screenings and unannounced caseworker visits.

Harris’s case illustrates how even minor interactions with the legal system can have far-reaching impact. Punishment often does not end at conviction and sentencing. Instead, the consequences of a history with the legal system can spill over into people’s lives for years, or decades—long after their cases have been closed or they’ve completed their sentences. These harms are commonly referred to as “collateral consequences”—a euphemism which masks the dire situations that formerly incarcerated people face and that disproportionately impact Black people and other people of color.

Continue reading “How “Collateral Consequences” Keep People Trapped in the Legal System” →

South Dakota is one of the top states in the country for personal and economic freedom, according to a report.

The state ranked third in the annual Freedom in the 50 States Index, which is put out by libertarian think tank the Cato Institute. The report weighs personal and economic freedoms based on over 230 state and local public policies.

South Dakota has never dipped below the top six since the 2000s and held the top spot for four years from 2006 to 2010. Its consistently strong economic performance, “excellent” fiscal policy, low state taxation, and below-average state and local debt are among the factors keeping South Dakota’s score so high.

Continue reading “South Dakota ranked third for personal, economic freedom” →

Five of the eight Iowa counties with the largest Black populations “had trial juries that were fully representative of their jury-eligible Black population” during 2022 and the first half of 2023, according to data analyzed by the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP.

However, trial juries in Polk County and Scott County failed to hit that benchmark, and Dubuque County was “particularly problematic,” with zero Black members of any trial jury during the18-month period reviewed.

The same review indicated that trial juries in Linn and Woodbury counties were close to being representative of the area’s jury-eligible Latino population, while Latinos were underrepresented on juries in Johnson, Marshall, Scott, and Polk counties, and particularly in Muscatine County.

Continue reading “Data show which Iowa counties have (or don’t have) representative juries” →

The leader of a South Dakota tribe is expected to declare an emergency on the state’s largest Native American reservation because of rampant crime that he said hasn’t been curbed due to the U.S. government’s inadequate funding for law enforcement.

The state of emergency declaration planned for Saturday on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation comes nearly six months after a federal judge ruled the U.S. government has a treaty obligation to support law enforcement on the reservation, but declined to determine whether the Oglala Sioux Tribe is entitled to the full funding amount requested.

Oglala Sioux President Frank Star Comes Out said in an interview Friday that conditions on the reservation have worsened since the ruling, prompting him to sign the emergency proclamation.

Continue reading “South Dakota tribe to declare state of emergency due to rampant crime on reservation” →

A coalition of 26 state attorneys general is calling on the new U.S. Speaker of the House to pass a Florida-sponsored bill that would grant states the authority to enforce federal immigration law when the federal government refuses to do so.

The AGs, led by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, on Monday. In it, they called on Congress to pass U.S. Rep. Bill Posey’s bill, the Immigration Enforcement Partnership Act. Posey, R-Florida, first filed the measure in 2022 and again in March 2023.

Continue reading “26 attorneys general: Give states the authority to enforce federal immigration law” →

People stealing trees from public and private land in Iowa is an infrequent but growing occurrence, according to state conservation officers.

The crimes range considerably in their scope and sophistication, and the value of the heists can be lucrative. Some of the culprits might haul their looted timber with ramshackle trailers. Others might have full-on logging rigs.

Continue reading “Tree theft is a rising crime in Iowa, with thieves stealing them off people’s property” →

U.S. Supreme Court justices during Tuesday’s oral arguments seemed to lean toward upholding a federal law that prevents the possession of firearms by a person who is subject to a domestic violence protective order.

Liberal and conservative justices appeared to side with the Biden administration’s position that the 1994 federal law is in line with the longstanding practice of disarming dangerous people and does not violate an individual’s Second Amendment rights.

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing the Biden administration, argued that there is historical precedent in the ability of Congress to “disarm those who are not law-abiding, responsible citizens.”

Continue reading “U.S. Supreme Court considers case dealing with gun rights and domestic violence” →

In a joint press conference across the state of South Dakota Friday, the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, and Sioux Falls Police Department announced they have updated radios and equipment to comply with federal guidelines specific to Project 25 (P25). Recognizing the communication obstacles amongst mutual aid agencies during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the FCC created P25 to bolster communication efforts and prevent technological differences from interfering with public safety. This project mandates first responder agencies nationwide to transition to a new, unified radio communications system by 2025.

With this upgrade to radios and equipment for P25, agencies can reassess their approach to encrypted radio communications channels. Starting November 13, Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, and Sioux Falls Police Department will choose to encrypt their radios for the safety of officers and deputies, the integrity of investigations, and to protect victims’ and witnesses’ privacy.

Continue reading “First Responder Agencies Across South Dakota Announce Radio Communications Updates” →

When law professor Sean Kammer’s friends told him they were skeptical about the seriousness of his upcoming course focused on Taylor Swift at the University of South Dakota, it was his chance to do what any Swiftie would do: Shake it off.

“I understand this sounds ridiculous, at least at first glance,” said Kammer, a self-avowed Swiftie. “But it’s not.”

Kammer’s course, The Taylor Swift Effect, planned for the spring semester looks to be the first law school class based on the sequined musical icon.

Continue reading “Taylor Swift headed to this law school, in theory” →

Over 1,000 people are killed by law enforcement each year in the United States. While the majority of those killings are deemed to be justified by oversight officials, many are not. Footage of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020 sparked nationwide protests, calls for fundamental police reform, and increased scrutiny over the use of deadly force and other abuses of power.

From 2013 to through May 2023, a reported 11,706 people were killed by police officers – both on and off duty – in the United States, according to Mapping Police Violence, a research collaborative that collects data on police killings across the nation. Adjusting for population, this comes out to around 3.5 police killings for every 100,000 people. However, the number of police killings in the last 10 years varies considerably from state to state.

Continue reading “Ranking the States Based on Killings by Law Enforcement” →