On November 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.