PIERRE, S.D. (Jonathan Ellis & Joe Sneve / The Dakota Scout) – The South Dakota Supreme Court Friday revived an anti-abortion group’s lawsuit to stop a November ballot measure that would legalize abortion here.

The state’s High Court reversed a decision of Circuit Court Judge John Pekas, who ruled last month that Life Defense Fund should have filed a writ of quo warranto against the secretary of state instead of filing its case against Dakotans for Health, the author of the proposed constitutional amendment at the center of the litigation.

A writ of quo warranto against the secretary of state would have challenged the office’s legal authority to place the measure – Amendment G – on the ballot.

But in a brief ordering the reversal issued to Pekas, Chief Justice Steven Jensen wrote that the lower court judge erred when he ruled that Life Defense Fund should have challenged the secretary of state’s authority. Participating in the order were the Court’s four other justices.

“The Court has not decided and expresses no opinion on any other issues raised by the parties,” Jensen wrote, “including whether the secretary of state is an indispensable party to this action. Any such issue can be resolved, in the first instance, by the circuit court on remand.”

Dakotans for Health collected enough signatures to bring an abortion amendment to voters. Amendment G would add abortion to the state Constitution and establishes regulations for abortion as pregnancies advance. Abortion became illegal in South Dakota on June 24, 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that deemed abortion a constitutional right.

Life Defense Fund argued the ballot measure never should have been certified for the ballot because many of the 55,000 signatures collected were not valid. The group said it had evidence, including videos, that people were tricked into signing the petition, thinking they were signing a petition for a different measure also being circulated by Dakotans for Health.

The group also argued that South Dakota law prohibits out-of-state residents from working as petition circulators and that enough signatures were collected by out-of-state residents to invalidate the measure.

The Supreme Court can take months, or longer, to issue orders or opinions, but did so in this case in less than three weeks. The November vote is three months away, but election deadlines are only weeks away. The secretary of state must certify ballot questions to state auditors by Aug. 13, and early voting starts Sept. 20.

“We are thrilled the Supreme Court expedited our case and rightly sent it back to the state court, where our case can be heard and thoroughly examined,” Life Defense Fund Co-Chair Leslie Unruh said in a release. “(Dakotans for Health co-founder) Rick Weiland and his paid posse have broken laws, tricked South Dakotans into signing their abortion petition, left petitions unattended, and much more. Dakotans for Health illegally gathered signatures to get Amendment G on the ballot, therefore this measure should not be up for a vote this November.”

In a statement to The Dakota Scout, Weiland said: “This is just another bump in the road in the effort to try to deny the people of South Dakota the right to determine their own reproductive rights and freedom.”

Friday’s order wasn’t a complete victory for Life Defense Fund. The Court denied the group’s request that its lawsuit be remanded to another judge rather than Pekas, and it also denied its request that any remand hearing be expedited, with Jensen writing: “This exceptional level of supervision over a circuit court’s calendar is not supported by the current state of the record.”

 

LINCOLN, NE – Governor Jim Pillen appeared, along with sheriff’s deputies, police chiefs, law enforcement union leaders, and members of the Revenue Committee at a news conference on his state property tax plan on Monday afternoon.

There have been concerns that cutting taxes will impact public safety and this was a show of support to public safety as Nebraska’s state property tax is debated at the Unicameral. Lawmakers won’t return to the special session until Wednesday afternoon, but they have been working behind the scenes on possible solutions.

Many mayors across the state have been critical of the Pillen’s plans for a hard cap on budgets, worrying that doing so would eliminate local control and flexibility when it comes to running police and fire departments.

On Monday, the governor vowed that whatever bill comes out, public safety would be excluded from the caps.

Revenue Committee Chairwoman Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn said that there were a lot of good ideas in the 68 bills they heard. She said the committee is considering a lot of them, but nothing introduced had enough support to get it across the finish line.

The governor explained the findings of Creighton Professor Ernie Goss that the fastest-growing states with the strongest economies have the highest sales taxes and lowest property taxes — and that’s the goal for Nebraska, he said.

The governor reminded everyone that these aren’t easy decisions, but they need to be made. He said all 120 exemptions are on the table — several of them are connected to agriculture.

His original plan called on increasing sin taxes, eliminating a host of sales tax exemptions on goods and services, and adding sales tax to soda pop and candy. He also wants the state to fully fund public schools.

Americans For Prosperity Nebraska started a cost clock for the special session, arguing that the governor’s plan is about raising taxes. By its calculation the cost of the session surpassed $212,000 on Monday.

 

NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. – A controlled blast is scheduled for mid-August that will demolish the collapsed rail bridge over the Big Sioux River.

According to a Facebook post by the Missouri River Boat Club, the blast is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 16 at about 7 a.m. Between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., everybody within 1,000 feet of the bridge is asked to remain indoors.

Additionally, all roads within the area are expected to be closed during the blast and security will be placed at various checkpoints.

The rail bridge was damaged back in June during severe flooding. The Big Sioux River rose high enough that it collapsed the bridge that had spanned the river for years. At its peak, the Big Sioux rose to over 44 feet in Sioux City.

Since the collapse, the bridge has slowly sunk further into the river.

The bridge is more than 100 years old and was a major rail line for BNSF, connecting South Dakota and Iowa. In July, BNSF still had no timeline on how long it would take for this rail line to be back up and running. In the meantime, BNSF has been rerouting train traffic through Creston, Iowa.

 

NORFOLK, NE – A man in a Northeast Nebraska community was arrested after a woman found a camera hidden in her apartment bedroom.

On July 31, Norfolk Police responded to the 900 block of West Prospect Avenue after a camera was found in a woman’s bedroom vent.

Police say the camera came from the apartment above the woman’s. That apartment belongs to 49-year-old Kurtis Kleinschmit of Norfolk.

Following a search of Kleinschmit’s apartment, cameras and other video monitoring equipment were found, along with methamphetamine.

Norfolk Police say Kleinschmit was not present during the search but was arrested on Sunday, Aug. 4. He was charged with unlawful intrusion and possession of a controlled substance.

He is currently being held at the Madison County Jail.