Court Cases

UPDATE: Under an agreement to allow judgment to be entered against the state, which was submitted for court approval on Dec. 8, the state agreed to amend its personalized license plate law and the Motor Vehicle Division’s policy that infringed on the free speech rights of all South Dakotans.

UPDATE: The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Planned Parenthood's motion to dismiss the appeal in the Eighth Circuit and vacated the temporary restraining order at Planned Parenthood's request due to the Dobbs decision.

UPDATE: On Nov. 4, 2019, Charles Rhines, 63, was executed by lethal injection for the 1992 murder of Donnivan Schaeffer. Rhines was initially scheduled to be executed at 1:30 p.m., but multiple unsuccessful appeals filed with the U.S. Supreme Court delayed the lethal injection by several hours.

UPDATE: In a settlement agreement, approved by U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol, Gov. Kristi Noem, and Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg backed down from their unconstitutional attempts to silence pipeline protestors.

UPDATE: The U.S. District Court deemed South Dakota’s deadline far too restrictive, and agreed that it infringed on the right to vote and the freedom to associate.

UPDATE: This federal lawsuit accusing the South Dakota state health plan of discrimination was dismissed following the death of our friend and plaintiff, Terri Bruce.

All plaintiffs in these cases were subjected by law enforcement and state officials to forcible catheterization in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

UPDATE: The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear this case.

UPDATE: The discrimination charge, which was filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the North Dakota Department of Labor, alleges that Taco John's violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the South Dakota Human Rights Act.