The “Free-dumb Caucus” strikes again.  I know I’m dumber for having read it, but it did generate mirth this afternoon.

So, I was sent the semi-anonymous release from the Free-Dumb Caucus this afternoon, whining about the Austin Goss charges, and how he pled them down to disorderly conduct.

State Representative Tina Mulally’s name is the point of contact on the release, but no one would apparently lay claim to actually saying the words, as the statement lays out it’s anonymous griping about the whole situation. It reads in part..

The South Dakota Freedom Caucus issued a statement after former reporter Austin Goss pled guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct, for a private, prank call made to Republican party Chairman Dan Lederman last year.

…

South Dakota investigative journalist Austin Goss was forced to plead down to a Class 2 misdemeanor of disorderly conduct for a private, prank phone call to former Republican party Chairman Dan Lederman last year, after numerous investigative reports into the Noem administration, the Republican party and other powerful players in the state.

and yadda, yadda, yadda.

Now, here’s the part that’s completely laughable.

First off, it’s very courageous how they bravely brought up the rear. But they probably should have given it a bit more thought.

The part where they complain that Goss was charged with violating a law, which was pled down to disorderly conduct? Two of the three members of the Free-dumb caucus were sponsors of the bill that created the crime.

As always, don’t take my word for it. Read for yourself..

Under sponsors of the measure, we have Tina Mulally and Tony Randolph who signed their name to the bill as sponsors prohibiting forms of caller identification manipulation, and imposing a penalty therefor.

So, they were against people spoofing caller id, and now they’re for it?

Because that’s what they’re complaining about.  Unless it’s the selective enforcement of laws that they’re looking for.

Hopefully they’ll figure that out before they’re inflicted on the legislature this next session.

If they don’t like the law, repeal it. If they don’t like who was charged, create a “friends of Tina & Tony” criminal exemption.

Absent that, they might want to think the next time they decide to chirp about a law they themselves sponsored as being unjust.

RECALL PETITIONS TURNED INTO BALTIC CITY HALL

BALTIC, SD – Today South Dakotans for Transparent Government has turned in the petitions to set an election regarding the recall of Mayor Deborah McIsaac.

The signature requirement for the petition is 15% of the voters at the last general election, which in the case of Baltic would be 136. South Dakotans for Transparent Government gathered 163signatures, or over 115% of the requirement.

“These petitions are proof that there is community support for the recall effort” said Jamie Ingemansen, chair of South Dakotans for Transparent Government. “The citizens of Baltic arec learly ready for a change, and we look forward to the election date being announced and overcoming any obstacles that stand in the way.”

Mayor McIsaac has stated that she intends to challenge the grounds on which the recall is based.Per South Dakota law, she is prohibited from using city resources for a political purpose, including any city legal resources or special counsel.

South Dakotans for Transparent Government looks forward to the acceptance of the signatures from the Baltic City Council.

For media inquiries, please email info@recallmcisaac.com

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 Advanced Technology Solves 46-Year-old Missing Person Mystery

PIERRE, S.D. – A man who has been without a name for 46 years now has one.

Thanks to the diligent efforts of staff members from the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office and current forensic technology, the body of a deceased male found in the Missouri River near Pierre on Aug. 9, 1976 has now been finally identified.

“Modern Technology has assisted law enforcement in solving this 46-year-old cold case,” said Attorney General Marty Jackley. “An autopsy was conducted which resulted in a probable cause of death by drowning and there is no further evidence of foul play.”

The body was found floating in the Missouri River eight miles east of Farm Island near Pierre. The body was in an advanced state of decomposition, and there was no identification on the person. Partial fingerprints were obtained from the individual, but without a potential subject to compare them to, no match could be made.

Ultimately, all efforts to identify the individual which were available to law enforcement at the time had failed and he was buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Pierre as “Unknown Man”.  Throughout the years, the gravesite was tended to by Gertrude Stone of Pierre and then later by her daughter, Cheryl Stone, also of Pierre.

In 2020, the now cold case was reopened by Pierre Police Department Detective Trevor Swanson and a permit was obtained from a judge to exhume the remains of the unidentified individual. The remains were disinterred on Oct. 8, 2021, and samples were collected in order to obtain a DNA profile.

In 2022, Detective Swanson started work as a Special Agent with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, but he remained assigned to the case. With assistance from the South Dakota Forensic Laboratory, the unidentified individual’s DNA profile was compared to results found in genetic genealogy databases which resulted in a potential match for 39-year-old Stephen Earl Boice, whose last known address was Seattle, WA.

Investigators obtained a fingerprint card that had been collected from Stephen on Feb.15, 1962. The South Dakota Forensic Laboratory compared Stephen’s fingerprint card to the fingerprints collected from the unidentified individual and determined that they were made by the same person.

Investigators contacted Stephen’s closest living relatives, informed them of efforts to identify the body, and delivered the death notification. At their request, Stephen’s remains were reinterred last fall at Riverside Cemetery. The internment ceremony was attended by members of the Attorney General’s Office, law enforcement, and the Pierre Police Department Chaplin.

A permanent headstone marker was placed at the gravesite in April..

“I want to thank everyone who spent so much time on this case,” said Attorney General Jackley. “Thanks to them, this family now has some closure about what happened to their loved one.”

The Division of Criminal Investigation and the state Forensic Lab are part of the Attorney General’s Office.

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Speaking of illegal pranks against political figures…

If you recall towards the end of 2020, Rapid City Councilwoman Laura Armstrong was under some pretty strong fire and had a number of complaints lodged against her over a COVID era facebook page which scolded businesses for not enforcing mask mandates:

It all stems from a Facebook page called “The Caring Businesses of Rapid City” that highlights businesses that enforce a mask mandate in their establishment, versus those that do not. The rolodex of businesses not requiring masks has been dubbed the “naughty list.”

The complainants accuse Armstrong of creating or supporting the page and are asking she be removed from the Council.

Read that here.

Well, in her race to be Rapid City’s next Mayor, it looks like someone thought Armstrong should practice what she was said to have preached:

This is not digital.

Someone actually climbed their tail up a lighted billboard, and made sure that Armstrong wasn’t going to run afoul of the COVID naughty list, and physically added a mask to her photo on a billboard along a busy highway in the middle of the night.

That would be Rapid City..

Schoenbeck Law review article on impeachment by Pat Powers on Scribd

State Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck has an article in the latest edition of the South Dakota Law Review published through the Knudson School of Law as it relates to the impeachment proceedings of the South Dakota Legislature against Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg. As noted in a preface to the article:

This article is intended as both a historical account of events surrounding South Dakota’s first impeachment trial and as a guide for those in other states (hopefully not South Dakota again) that may have to deal with an impeachment.

I thought the best takeaway was towards the end, where Senator Schoenbeck noted..

Even though the process starts in the House of Representatives, the Senate needs to engage immediately. There are decisions that need to be made or monitored jointly. For example, the Senate expended $3,271.18 on legal services.  Because the Senate took a hands-off approach to House activity, there was no check on the House spending. The House spent $132,611.35 on legal services, with no trial.

The legislature was sued by the media over the House attempting to restrict access to votes made by House members on the petition for a special session.

The Senate stopped the litigation by releasing the votes, but conflict could have been avoided by the Senate being fully engaged in all decisions even before articles of impeachment reached the Senate. The legislative process is owned by both bodies, and both need to be fully engaged.

You can read it above, or in the South Dakota Law Review.

In response to a controversy in late 2022 arising as a result of an adult oriented drag show advertising itself as “kid-friendly” at the same time it asked for people to bring $1 and $5 bills to tip drag performers, yesterday the South Dakota Board of Regents finalized a new policy which hopes to put some parameters around what information is provided up front for those who may wish to attend:

6_C_BOR0523 by Pat Powers on Scribd

The most significant change to the policy is section 2.2, which required content descriptors for events open to minors:

2.2. Content Descriptors
2.2.1. Content descriptors shall be used, as appropriate, for Programs which are open to Minors to provide parents or legal guardians with information about the content of the Program. Programs which may include nudity, sexual situations, violence, and/or other explicit content shall include the appropriate descriptor(s) (e.g., “may contain explicit content”) on any promotional material for the Program published, electronically or in print, on a university platform.

The change in policy for South Dakota’s Universities was approved unanimously.

From Politico, at least one South Dakota elected official has weighed in on how the verdict in a New York Civil Court against former President Trump for sexually abusing a woman would affect his future:

The verdict, which was announced in a federal courtroom in New York City on the first day of jury deliberations, sparked quick reactions from the former president — who continued to deny the allegations — and from multiple members of Congress, including Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.).

“You never like to hear that a former president has been found in a civil court guilty of those types of actions,” the South Dakota senator told reporters Tuesday. When asked if he could support somebody who’s been found liable for sexual battery, he said: “I would have a difficult time doing so.”

Read the entire story here.

Attorney General Marty Jackley Says No Foul Play, No Threat to Public After Discovery of Body In Lincoln County

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has announced that no foul play is suspected and that there is no threat to the public after a male body was found Tuesday in rural Lincoln County.

The body was found Tuesday afternoon in a vehicle near the intersection of 275^th Street and 477^thAvenue southeast of Harrisburg. At this time, the case is being treated as an unattended death.

People who may have seen a white car in the ditch at that intersection are asked to call the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

Attorney General Jackley said there has been good cooperation among the agencies involved in the investigation. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation with assistance from the state Division of Criminal Investigation.

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The Dakota Scout is reporting this afternoon that, after the dust has settled, former Dakota News Now reporter Austin Goss ended up with monetary penalties and an apology after spoofing Governor Kristi Noem’s phone number in a crank call to GOP Chair (at the time) Dan Lederman.

As part of the plea arraignment and sentence, Goss will issue an apology to Dan Lederman, who was the departing chairman of the South Dakota Republican Party when he received the robocall that appeared to be coming from Noem’s personal cellphone.

Goss will pay $578 in fines and court costs.

Read the entire story here.

The story also notes that Goss was granted a suspended imposition of sentence, which will seal the charge and conviction.

Not a huge shocker.

Lots of happenings swirling around in the background in the matter of Austin Goss, the now former political reporter for Dakota News Now, who lost his job after sending a prank phone call to former South Dakota Republican Party Chairman Dan Lederman falsifying the identifying information in the prank call to that of Governor Kristi Noem’s personal cell phone number.

What am I hearing is happening in the matter?

• In addition to having lost his job as a reporter with Dakota News Now, I’m told Goss also incurred a penalty in his position with the South Dakota National Guard for his actions.  (Update: I’m receiving conflicting information on this, so this is not confirmed at this point.)
• It appears that the matter is moving forward and being disposed of today as opposed to May 23, which had been entered in some court documents.  I understand it’s a full court docket, so it may be happening later in the afternoon.
• A deal has been struck where a written apology will be made to the victim(s) prior to the entry of a plea.
• As opposed to the original charge of SDCL 49-31-31(5)(b), the crime of making threatening, harassing, or misleading contacts, the word is that the State’s Attorney will allow the matter to be pled down to disorderly conduct, which is a class 2 misdemeanor. Which has a potential penalty of up to 30 days’ imprisonment and $500 in fines.

Given Goss’ lack of a criminal record, I heard that a “suspended imposition of sentence” could be requested in this case if allowed by the judge. Which would mean that the court record for his actions could be sealed and erased at some point, as if they never happened. Which is not shocking in the big scheme of things.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the charges we’re discussing in either case are misdemeanor offenses. They’re often disposed of with a fine, as opposed to any jail time. That was always going to be the result whether it was a class 1 or a class 2 misdemeanor. This just ended up being a weirder offense against the laws of the people.

On the other side of the scales of justice, for all the talk of the people trying to pooh-pooh this as just being a prank call, the person whose number was spoofed did not find it humorous, nor did the call recipient. And it’s not like Goss popped up right away and said “gotcha – ha ha.” He didn’t fess up until he was compelled to by Law Enforcement.  Investigatory resources had to dig in to figure out who and where it originated from.

Ultimately the shock to his employment record is far worse than any couple hundred dollar fine that would be levied. But I think we’d all agree that a message has been sent that people don’t care for spoofed phone calls.