South Dakota sees increase in juvenile diversion program success

Mitchell Daily Republic: "More at-risk South Dakota youth successfully completed diversion programs in 2019 than in any other year since juvenile justice reforms went into effect, according to a report issued last week."

Longest-serving South Dakota Chief Justice bids farewell

U.S. News: "South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson delivered his final State of the Judiciary address in Pierre on Wednesday, using the speech to push for a justice system that helps people address drug addiction and stay out of prison."

Attorney general tries once more to reduce use of presumptive probation in South Dakota courts

KELO News: "Last year, South Dakota’s freshly elected attorney general wasn’t able to convince enough members of the Legislature to overturn the state law that limits who gets sent to state prisons."

Federal judge blocks South Dakota petition law

Courthouse News Service: "A federal judge struck down as unconstitutional a South Dakota law imposing burdensome regulations that would have made it much harder for the average citizen to get an initiative on the ballot."

S.D.: Chief Justice to deliver his final State of the Judiciary message

Pierre Capital Journal: "Chief Justice David Gilbertson, of the South Dakota Supreme Court, will deliver his State of the Judiciary message to a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature on January 15."

South Dakota courtrooms adjust to long holiday

KELO News: "South Dakota state workers will have both this Monday and Tuesday off. That means courthouses across the state will be closed from 5 p.m. Friday all the way through Christmas Day."

Low-income South Dakotans can seek legal help on many issues through new website

KELO News: "A new online tool that links lower-income South Dakotans and lawyers seems to be much faster than the old way, where legal-aid staff directly took people’s initial information."

More than half of women in South Dakota prisons have drug convictions

KELO News: "Data from the state shows that drug convictions are the biggest reason the state’s female prison population is growing."

Big Eagle, former Pierre victim advocate, given national award by U.S. attorney general

Pierre Capital Journal: "Marlys Big Eagle, a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe at Fort Thompson, South Dakota, and former executive director of Missouri Shores Domestic Violence Center in Pierre, was recognized last month in Washington by U.S. Attorney General William Barr for her work as federal victim witness coordinator in South Dakota."

South Dakota tribe wants 1863 removal law changed

MPR News: "A South Dakota tribe is asking for the state's help to change an 1863 federal law that technically keeps them from owning land in Minnesota."

S.D. federal district court finds way to save on interpreters

KELO News: "The Federal District Court for the District of South Dakota says it has saved nearly $700,000 in interpreting fees through a telephone service."

South Dakota initiative successfully reduces juvenile detention

Public News Service: "In the past six years, the youth detention population in South Dakota has decreased significantly and the number of juveniles committed to the Department of Corrections has decreased by 65 percent. The reduction is a result of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, adopted in 2011."

S.D.: Teen Court a real-life, consequential learning program

Pierre Capital Journal: "Central Teen Court, established in 2002, is the adult-court-approved juvenile diversion program for the Sixth Judicial Circuit. Members of Teen Court — attorneys, jury, bailiff and clerk — are trained teen volunteers and returning defendants."

U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Oglala, Rosebud case against South Dakota officials

Sioux Falls Argus Leader: "The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday a case alleging that South Dakota officials were violating the Indian Child Welfare Act."

South Dakota jails more people per capita than any other state, report shows

Sioux Falls Argus Leader: "South Dakota jails more people per capita than any other state in the country, according to a national nonprofit that researches incarceration. Half of those arrests are drug or alcohol-related."

Many crime victims in S.D. not being paid restitution they are owed

KELO News: "In South Dakota, people convicted of crimes owe their victims millions of dollars in court-ordered restitution, but most of that debt is going unpaid and there is little remedy available for those harmed to get their money."

South Dakota anti-riot law blocked by federal judge

Courthouse News Service: "A federal judge in South Dakota Wednesday blocked provisions of a new anti-rioting law signed by Gov. Kristi Noem earlier this year that aims to quash protests against the Keystone XL pipeline."

Chief Justice Gilbertson provides an inside look at South Dakota’s Supreme Court

KELO News: "Chief Justice David Gilbertson answered questions from KELOLAND Capitol News Bureau reporter Bob Mercer in Pierre about how the South Dakota Supreme Court decides to hear cases and the related topic of the roles that law clerks play in the court’s processes."

Nearly 40 years after South Dakota changed sentencing law, dozens are serving 100 years or more for first-degree manslaughter

Brainerd Dispatch: "Nearly 25 years ago, Joaquin Ramos entered the South Dakota State Penitentiary to begin a life sentence for first-degree manslaughter, angry about the circumstances that led him there."

S.D. legislators urge state Supreme Court to allow concealed handguns in chambers

Sioux Falls Argus Leader: "South Dakota Supreme Court justices are weighing a ban on concealed handguns in the Court's Capitol space for their own protection, but some legislators are arguing that's the reason they passed a law allowing it."

U.S. Attorney says South Dakota prosecutions are up

KOTA News: "The number of cases being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Dakota is up for the second straight year. The office's annual report for 2018 is out and prosecutors say they've filed cases against 914 defendants in the South Dakota district last year, a 3.6 percent increase from 2017."

South Dakotans soon able to access court records from any computer

Brookings Register: "The South Dakota Unified Judicial System is piloting a program that will eventually allow the public access to court records from any computer. The public can now only view court records on computers at state courthouses during work hours from Monday to Friday."

SD justices say injured driver doesn't owe insurance company

KELO News: "State Farm can't recover $5,000 from motorist LeRoy James Jr. it paid to him for medical expenses, the South Dakota Supreme Court said in a decision released Thursday. Jones was rear-ended on July 16, 2016, on SD 16 near Rapid City by another driver, Melissa Rivers."