Often, the ACLU of South Dakota must take tough stances on proposed state laws and ballot measures that would impact civil liberties and rights. Additionally, we actively lobby the State Legislature for bills that we introduce to protect or expand the individual freedoms of citizens in the state. The ACLU is strictly non-partisan; as such, we never support or oppose candidates for elective office.
The ACLU of SD also works with other campaigns and organizations to ensure that SD law remains faithful to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In 2006 and 2008, the ACLU worked closely with the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families to defeat two initiatives that would have allowed drastic governmental interference into the healthcare choices of women and families in South Dakota. In 2010, we worked with Equality SD to introduce a bill into the legislature that would have amended the State's Human Rights Act (HRA) to include sexual orientation, age, veterans status, and gender identity as protected classes against discrimination in employment, public services, public accommodations, and housing in South Dakota. This bill died in committee but provided a proactive step towards achieving full equality for all American citizens living in South Dakota.
We will continue to work with organizations in our state that support equality and personal liberty and that seek to minimize governmental interference into the personal choices of individuals and families.
2010 South Dakota Legislative Session
The ACLU of South Dakota advocated against two bills that would have forbidden anonymous blog postings and other anonymous speech on the internet during the 2010 Legislative Session. HB 1277 and HB 1278 mandated that websites in South Dakota that allow for unnamed posting of comments, opinions and other speech items must track those who are posting on their web pages and keep records of IP addresses and other potential identifying and private information."These bills sought to address issues of defamation on internet websites but do so in a way that was so excessively broad that it would suppress South Dakotans' rights to freedom of expression and infringe on their right to privacy," stated Robert Doody, Director of the ACLU of SD. Both bills were defeated in committee. Click here to see a summary of HB 1277 and view the voting record. Or view the votes for and against HB 1278.
Yet our legislative agenda was not merely reactionary. As mentioned above, this session we pursued legislation with Equality SD to amend the State's non-discrimination policies to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes against discrimination across the state. The bill was tabled with a vote of 8 to 4 in the Health and Human Services Committee. To see a summary of the bill and who voted for and against it in committee, click here.
We were pleased to watch a number of precarious bills be dismissed quickly this session without much involvement from our office. We are disappointed that legislation to expand equality and fairness to South Dakotans across the state failed. Yet we will continue to educate the public and state legislators about the importance of amending the HRA and to dispel the myths and in factual statements that surrounded the 2010 bill, laying the groundwork for legislative victory in the future.
View the votes on all of the bills presented during the 2010 Legislative session.
Contact your legislators to thank them for supporting free speech and equity in South Dakota.
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