South Dakota
Department of Corrections pledges to rebuild sweat lodges dismantled during prison lockdown • South Dakota Searchlight
The South Dakota Department of Corrections says it will rebuild three sweat lodges dismantled during a weekslong lockdown at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
The DOC started what it described as a “proactive” lockdown to perform a facility-wide search for contraband on Sept. 15. Last week, the agency sent a press release saying it was transitioning out of lockdown status.
Between announcing the lockdown’s beginning and its end, the DOC sent a news release with photos of alleged contraband, including sharp objects and a mobile wi-fi hotspot. The DOC sent a news release with more photos of alleged contraband Monday evening, in a release calling the lockdown a success.
The agency did not mention the sweat lodges in any of the the releases.
State prison system puts nearly 1,300 inmates on indefinite lockdown
Late last week, an inmate named Gerald Thin Elk told South Dakota Searchlight that inmates went five days without showers at the start of the lockdown, that most of his unit remained on lockdown after its end was announced, and that the lodges had been dismantled as inmates sat in their cells.
“They tore all three of them down,” Thin Elk said.
He’d heard that a Native American medicine man was called in to make sure the lodges were removed respectfully, but “we just hope that nothing bad comes back on those people that handled those.”
DOC spokesman Michael Winder later confirmed via email that the sweat lodges were “disassembled” during the lockdown as part of the contraband search.
“The lodges will be reassembled at a later time with a medicine man to bless them,” Winder said.
Winder did not answer questions on whether the lodge teardown turned up contraband, what kind of contraband may have been suspected, if a medicine man oversaw the disassembly, or if the DOC has alternative spiritual practice options for Native American inmates.
The Monday news release on contraband found during the lockdown did not indicate where any of the seized items were found.
Right to religion
The constitutional rights of inmates inside institutions are restricted, but the right to practice one’s religion has protections under federal law. The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 states that “no government shall impose a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person residing in or confined to an institution.”
A sweat lodge (“inipi” in Lakota) is a domed, ceremonial space. Hot rocks are placed in the center, and participants pour water over them to the sound of drums and songs of prayer. Participants in the purification rite traditionally share a peace pipe, as well. The smoke and steam are said to carry prayers to the creator.
Before the lockdown, there were sweat lodges at the state penitentiary, Jameson Annex and minimum security Unit C.
Prison families group hopes to push lawmakers, corrections officials to address concerns
Thin Elk said he frequently attended one of the three weekly sweats on the prison grounds in Sioux Falls after spending years using another lodge at Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield.
“I’m one of the guys that helped the younger natives in here recenter themselves to try to put them back in touch with their traditional values and their way of life,” Thin Elk said.
The Durfee lodge, which was not affected during the lockdown, is larger than any of the three on the prison grounds in Sioux Falls, Thin Elk said. But the prison lodges are all larger and were regularly filled with more people than any lodge Thin Elk has seen outside the prison walls.
“It’s not even close,” Thin Elk said.
Thin Elk also expressed concerns about other changes to in-prison religious activity. He pointed to church services that had been offered at 6:30 p.m. Thursday evenings by Lutheran volunteers from various churches through the St. Dysmas ministry group.
The services switched to Wednesday afternoons at 1:30 p.m., then to Wednesday mornings at 8:30 a.m. over the past year. Republican former state Rep. Tim Goodwin, of Rapid City, who is running for a chance to return to Pierre this year, said during an inmate family group’s meeting last month that those changes had become a hassle for volunteers like him.
Thin Elk said the changes, as well as multiple lockdowns this year, have made it harder for inmates to practice their religion.
“It’s made things very complicated in here,” Thin Elk said.
Reaction from ACLU, Corrections Commission leader
Samantha Chapman, advocacy manager of the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, said in a statement that religious freedom behind prison walls is a right that should not be fooled with lightly. Courts have regularly shot down policy-based denials of religious freedom in prisons.
Chapman also noted that Native Americans make up 9% of South Dakota’s population but more than a third of its inmate population. According to the DOC’s 2023 Annual Statistical Report, 38% of male inmates imprisoned on a current charge and 47% of male inmates house for parole violations are Native American.
Particularly given that disparity, Chapman noted, the significance of tearing down a place of worship for Native American inmates “cannot be overstated.”
“Oftentimes, an individual’s connections to their religious and cultural community may be their only source of hope while in prison,” Chapman wrote. “For incarcerated Native Americans, ceremonies like inipi sweats are a critical point of access to not just their spiritual practices, but also to their cultural identities.”
State Sen. Shawn Bordeaux, D-Mission, was recently elected president of the state Corrections Commission. He said he was troubled to hear about the situation, which Thin Elk reached out to him about, but was told by DOC that the lodges will be built back.
“I was kind of taken aback,” Bordeaux said. “At first, I was a little perturbed to hear that they had done this, and I thought ‘there’s got to be a more appropriate way of going through and checking things,’” Bordeaux said.
He doesn’t have a clear understanding of the DOC’s goals, he said, nor of what kinds of contraband the agency may have been searching for that would have necessitated a full takedown of the lodges. He wants to know if the lodges have ever been taken down in similar situations.
“For me, I don’t know what all the protocols are,” Bordeaux said. “I want to know what they did, how they were doing it and what they’ve done in the past.”
Lockdown rundown
The recent lockdown at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls was a search for contraband, which the Department of Corrections said is “a device, instrument, material, or substance which is readily capable of causing or inducing fear of death or bodily injury,” or can be “illicit substances such as controlled substances and alcohol.”
“Although some of the items retrieved are tools used in the facility, if they are not stored or used for their intended purposes, they become contraband, and in some instances, dangerous contraband,” the DOC said via news release on Monday.
Correctional officers found “handmade weapons,” items that could be turned into weapons, illicit substances, electronic equipment and “excess property,” the DOC said.
Any “potential criminal activity” is being referred to the Attorney General’s Office, the release says.
Selected images of alleged contraband seized during a lockdown at the state penitentiary. (Images courtesy of state Department of Corrections)
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GRAND FORKS — The UND football program will try to snap out of a two-game road losing skid by returning to the Alerus Center to face the two-time defending national champions South Dakota State.
Here are eight things you need to know about the Jackrabbits.
1. Hagen, Preston on SDSU roster
Two former UND players are on South Dakota State’s roster in offensive tackle Sam Hagen and wide receiver Marcus Preston.
Preston, a senior, caught 29 passes for 285 yards across his first three seasons of college football at UND.
The Kansas native has never become a major factor in Brookings. He has one catch this season for 4 yards – a touchdown against Youngstown State on Oct. 12.
Hagen, a Fordville, N.D., native, transferred to SDSU after the 2023 season as UND lost its offensive line coach (Joe Pawlak to Montana) and offensive coordinator (Danny Freund to SDSU) in the offseason.
Hagen has been slotted as the starter for the Jacks all season, although he missed a few games with an injury in the middle of the season. He’s expected to play against his old team on Saturday.
2. Two coaches with UND backgrounds
The Jackrabbits will have two coaches with UND backgrounds in the Alerus Center this weekend.
Former UND quarterback and assistant coach Danny Freund now shares offensive coordinator duties for SDSU, while former UND running backs coach Robbie Rouse is a running backs coach for the Jacks.
After leaving UND, Rouse spent one season at Cal Poly before joining SDSU in 2023.
As a player, Freund was 16-6 as a two-year starter for the then-Fighting Sioux, finishing his career as the program’s most accurate passer (68.9 percent). He threw for 5,239 yards and 47 touchdowns.
Freund coached running backs (2011-12), quarterbacks (2013), wide receivers (2014-18) and was then elevated to offensive coordinator following the 2018 season.
Freund spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the associate head coach label.
3. Tip of the cap to Belquist
South Dakota State head coach Jimmy Rogers paid a compliment to UND wide receiver Bo Belquist during a weekly press conference in Brookings.
“I think they have arguably the best wide receiver in FCS football in Bo Belquist,” Rogers said. “He should be an All-American the way he competes and plays.”
Belquist, a fifth-year senior who became UND’s all-time receptions leader earlier this season, has 48 catches for 754 yards and nine touchdowns this season.
4. Gronowski poses dual threat
South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski is beating teams with his arms and legs – a trait that hurt UND in the latest back-to-back road losses.
Gronowski enters the weekend with his hand in 114 career touchdowns: 82 passing, 31 rushing and one receiving.
In 2023 in Brookings against UND, Gronowski threw for 167 yards and a touchdown and ran for a touchdown.
In 2022 at UND, Gronowski threw for 197 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for two touchdowns.
In a loss at UND in the spring of 2021, Gronowski threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns and was intercepted twice – the only two-interception game of the season.
South Dakota State has become an NFL pipeline in recent years with six former Jacks on opening day NFL rosters in 2024, led by tight ends Dallas Goedert of the Philadelphia Eagles and Tucker Kraft of the Green Bay Packers.
SDSU had two players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft with Mason McCormick taken in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Isaiah Davis taken in the fifth round by the New York Jets.
Davis has returned seven kickoffs for 179 yards this season. He has four carries for 18 yards.
6. SDSU expecting a hungry UND
UND enters the weekend coming off back-to-back losses and Rogers knows that could create a desperate opponent.
“They need this win, and they know that,” Rogers said. “We have to play with a certain edge. It’s a tough environment. We have to be prepared for a 60-minute game.”
The Jackrabbits trailed 14-0 the last time SDSU came to Grand Forks. The Jacks, however, used an interception return for a touchdown to flip momentum in a 38-21 victory.
7. Angel Johnson has home-run capability
With Isaiah Davis now in the NFL, SDSU has new opportunities in the backfield and Angel Johnson has emerged as a threat.
Johnson ran for a career-best 132 yards on just seven carries last week in a dominant win over Murray State. He scored on a 67-yard run late in the first quarter.
Of Johnson’s nine career touchdowns, six have covered 50 or more yards, including all three this season.
He scored on a 50-yard touchdown run against UND in 2023.
8. Wilde is the new go-to WR
South Dakota State’s 2023 standout wide receivers – Jadon and Jaxon Janke – have graduated, opening the door for a breakout season for sophomore Griffin Wilde.
Wilde had seven catches for 150 yards in the season opener at Oklahoma State.
Wilde had 10 catches the following week against Incarnate Word.
For the season, Wilde has 44 receptions for 571 receiving yards.
Wilde has cooled on his torrid start but still had three catches for 78 yards last week against Murray State.
South Dakota
Kamala Harris underperformed Biden's numbers with women. South Dakota's governor thinks she knows why.
In her quest to become the first female president, Vice President Kamala Harris portrayed herself as a champion of women’s rights, putting abortion rights at the forefront of her campaign.
But she fell short, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem explains in an interview, because in doing so, Harris and the Democrats failed to meet voters where they are.
“I think what was so interesting during this campaign is we consistently saw Kamala Harris and the Democrats try to put women in a box,” Noem told Fox News Digital. “They tried to define women as only caring about abortion and their health care. They didn’t really give them due credit for being the individuals out there that are raising families and caring about their children’s education and paying their bills and pursuing their careers.”
Among the more surprising findings from the 2024 election is that Harris under-performed with women compared to President Biden’s support four years ago.
HARRIS FORMALLY CONCEDES ONE DAY AFTER TRUMP’S SWEEPING VICTORY
Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
President-elect Trump prevailed Tuesday in a decisive victory, sweeping all the key battleground states and winning a majority in the national popular vote – the first time a Republican has done so in 20 years. Voter concerns about the economy and immigration propelled Trump’s triumphant return to the White House. But he also expanded his base with traditionally Democratic constituencies, including Black, Hispanic and young voters, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis.
The election showcased many of the nation’s deep divides, particularly in gender. Men voted for Trump by 10 points, while women supported Harris by 8 points. The 18-point gender gap was slightly bigger than in the 2020 presidential election (17 points).
That widening was due to Trump improving 5 points among men since 2020. But Harris also under-performed with women compared to President Biden, who won the female vote by 12 points.
Harris became the Democratic frontrunner after President Biden suspended his bid for re-election in July amid reports of his declining mental acuity in the wake of a poor debate performance against Trump in June. Biden quickly endorsed Harris, who made “reproductive rights” a top issue on the campaign trail, a strategy that would ultimately not win over enough swing state voters. Harris was the Democrat nominee for only about four months.
DONALD TRUMP JR., KRISTI NOEM JOIN FRANKLIN GRAHAM IN HELENE-TORN NORTH CAROLINA WITH SAMARITAN’S PURSE
Vice President Kamala Harris put abortion and women’s rights at the forefront of her unsuccessful 2024 campaign. (Getty Images)
GOP strategists told Fox News Digital that the Harris campaign’s abortion strategy was ineffective against Trump, who had argued the issue returned to the states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Noem added that abortion is just not the only priority for women in America. She campaigned for Trump in Pennsylvania and other swing states, promoting his policies and taking questions from voters.
“We’ve got women running businesses that want their communities to be safe. They want to thrive. And they certainly don’t want a president that doesn’t protect women and the opportunities they have in front of them,” she told Fox News Digital.
The governor also criticized Harris’ team for “minimizing women” in the closing weeks of the election, referencing how Harris surrogate Mark Cuban had said Trump never surrounds himself with “strong, intelligent women.”
SOUTH DAKOTA GOV. KRISTI NOEM SIGNS BILL BANNING SOME GENDER-RELATED MEDICAL, SURGICAL PROCEDURES FOR MINORS
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem greets attendees as she speaks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
“They even went so far as to call women weak and dumb, you know, by their surrogtates. And I think that was offensive to many of us across the country,” said Noem.
She also said the Democrats’ far-left positions on abortion and transgender issues have made it easier for Republicans to take “common sense” positions that most Americans agree with.
“Kamala Harris and her Democratic Party have become more and more extreme on gender issues, on abortion. It’s easier for Republicans and our candidates and President Trump to use common sense to talk to the American people about truly how extreme the Democrats want to take this country and what we can do to make sure that every single person in this country, whether you’re a man or woman, that you get an opportunity,” she said.
The Trump campaign and associated political action committees leaned in to the culture wars with millions of dollars spent on ads that attacked Democrats and Harris as too liberal on gender issues.
Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem visits FOX Business Network’s “Varney & Co” at Fox Business Network Studios on May 7, 2024, in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
“Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you,” one of Trump’s strongest attack ads concluded. The New York Times reported that Trump’s anti-trans ads shifted the race 2.7 percentage points in Trump’s favor after viewers watched it.
Noem has also fought the culture wars. In South Dakota, she signed legislation that banned puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone treatments and sex-change operations for transgender individuals under the age of 18. She has spoken repeatedly about keeping biological men who identify as transgender out of women’s sports and protecting opportunities for women and girls.
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“President Trump is not going to let mediocre men take away opportunities for our outstanding women,” Noem said. It was Harris, she argued, who would have women on an “uncompetitive playing field.”
Asked if she had discussed joining the new administration, Noem said she had not had any conversations with the president-elect about a job.
“He knows I’ll help him any way that I can. But I spoke to him today, and he’s in great spirits. He’s looking forward to getting his administration set up. And I think he’s already getting phone calls from world leaders and working with people on his transition team to make sure that he’s ready to hit the ground running.”
“I love being the governor of South Dakota,” she added. “So we’ll continue to be a strong advocate for President Trump. He’s my friend, I’m so happy for him. And if he asks me to do something, well, we’ll make a decision at that time.”
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – On Election Day, South Dakota voters made the final decision on seven ballot questions.
One of the highly-debated initiatives was Referred Law 21, which would have put Senate Bill 201 into law with a Landowner Bill of Rights.
It was voted down by 59% of voters.
The measure was widely criticized for transferring control from local authorities to the state. Proponents argued it would have benefitted South Dakota’s economy.
Landowners who opposed Referred Law 21 and pipeline projects in the state viewed its rejection by voters as a “huge blow” to Summit Carbon Solutions and the carbon pipeline industry.
They held a victory press conference on Wednesday to celebrate, but both sides on the issue are looking at what comes next.
The attorney for landowners, Brian Jorde, pointed out in the press conference that Summit Carbon Solutions’ website no longer has a map specifically showing the project footprint in South Dakota.
Opponents to Referred Law 21 took a victory lap in the aftermath of election night. The final numbers looked closer than it was.
Of South Dakota’s 66 counties, 65 voted against Referred Law 21.
They celebrated what they believed to be momentum towards property rights and local control.
“This has been a grueling fight that we’ve been going on for three and a half years and I will say last night’s results were particularly gratifying and humbling,” said Ed Fischbach, a Spink County landowner.
Landowners said that they feel like it was also a victory to see the candidates who went against pipeline projects like Hohn from across the state won yesterday, some by wide margins as Fischbach explained.
“My county that I live in is Spink County and in the original route, we were going to get the most miles of that pipeline and if you are looking for a referendum on how our county feels, that also happened last night. Our county commission chairperson was up for reelection and she was targeted by an employee of the ethanol plant here in our county. Suzanne Smith was reelected with 73% [of the vote],” Fischbach said.
“The people supporting the bill made constant reference to the idea that we were all just a loud minority, extremists, folk who don’t live here or don’t have a commitment to this place. We have truly shown in a resounding 60-40 split that we are the loud majority on this issue and the fact that only one county was won in the entire state shows the statewide nature of our unified voice,” said Dakota Rural Action senior organizer Chase Jensen.
Proponents are disappointed but said they will get back to working on new ways forward.
Summit Carbon Solutions, the company that’s been trying to build its carbon capture pipeline project in South Dakota, plans on applying for a permit in the state later this month.
In a statement, they said:
“Summit Carbon Solutions will apply for a permit in South Dakota on November 19, 2024. Our focus continues to be on working with landowners and ensuring the long-term viability of ethanol and agriculture in the state. Projects like ours have successfully navigated South Dakota’s existing regulatory landscape in the past. We will continue to operate within the current framework, knowing that the future of ethanol and agriculture is vital to our shared success.”
Opponents to Referred Law 21 said they were prepared for the next steps as well. They were glad that companies would have to work with localities and they now turn their attention to what they call “True Reform” in the legislature.
“We really have had a grassroots movement across South Dakota with a lot of new conservative legislators and I am hopeful and think that we will bring forth a lot of good legislation that will protect our private property rights and keep our freedoms intact where they should be,” District 9 Senator-elect Joy Hohn.
Hohn said that legislators she spoke to have their eyes on putting together legislation that will specifically address eminent domain using Minnesota as a model because she said no eminent domain can be used for carbon pipelines in Minnesota.
“We look forward to this next session where we will actually get to some of the root causes that this bill or that this project has raised in our state. We will not settle for false compromise bills like Referred Law 21 was,” Jensen said.
Jorde said he was not surprised to hear that Summit Carbon Solutions intends to apply for another permit.
“They have to. Their investors are demanding they try again. It’s going to be very telling if that application is simply a copy and paste from last time that will tell us that they have learned nothing, that they don’t respect the will of the people, they don’t respect the vote that just occurred. The routes better be rerouted around the counties with the ordinances in place. It better be drastically different and we trust the PUC to hold the line as they did in Navigator and upholding county ordinances,” Jorde said.
Landowners are confident that if Summit Carbon Solutions follows through with its promise to submit another permit application, it will get the same result from the Public Utilities Commission and county ordinances will be respected.
Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
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