Candi Brings Plenty has joined the American Civil Liberties Union as the organization’s new indigenous justice organizer for South Dakota and North Dakota.

Libby Skarin, the ACLU of South Dakota’s policy director, has been selected as one of 17 South Dakotans to participate in the South Dakota Change Network’s newest cohort.

While the statistics are important to identify trends in criminal activity and aid in crime prevention and enforcement efforts, the ACLU of South Dakota says the stats highlight the need for criminal justice reform.

A federal court blocked enforcement of the unconstitutional provisions of several South Dakota laws, including the recently-enacted “Riot Boosting” Act, that threaten activists who encourage or organize protests, particularly protests of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg signs onto brief asking the Supreme Court to rule it is legal to fire LGBTQ people

Instead of using an enormous amount of taxpayer funds to prosecute and incarcerate drug users, the ACLU of South Dakota advocates supports the use of treatment and diversion whenever possible. South Dakota needs to invest in vital services such as addiction treatment and mental health resources.

South Dakota can cut incarceration in half and save millions of dollars by pursuing reforms to different areas of the criminal legal system, according to the ACLU of South Dakota’s newly released Blueprint for Smart Justice report.

The U.S. military is conducting wide-area surveillance tests across six Midwest states, including South Dakota, using experimental high-altitude balloons.

Because the challenged laws expose the plaintiffs to immediate and irreparable harm, the ACLU asked the court to immediately prohibit the state from enforcing these laws as the case goes forward. Judge Lawrence L. Piersol will issue a written ruling at a later date.