south dakota travel ban

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No Travel Advisories go into effect across the Dakota News Now viewing area

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Given the nature of conditions outdoors on Saturday, safety concerns are on high alert, including for the crews working to make roadways safe.

Many counties in southcentral and southeastern South Dakota have reported low visibility, drifting, and delayed emergency response times. As a result, No Travel Advisories have been issued and several counties have stopped plowing rural areas and county highways.

The South Dakota Department of Transportation encourages motorists to be safe over the long holiday weekend and advised if you must travel, to pack an emergency kit containing anything you might need if you become stranded.

The DOT said secondary road closures are planned for the southeast corner of the state overnight Saturday, due to many of them becoming completely blocked and impassable.

You can keep up with current road conditions at SD511.org .

Winter Storm, January 13, 2024

Copyright 2024 KSFY. All rights reserved.

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Parts of I-29, I-90 remain closed until Friday amid massive no travel advisory

Portions of I-29 and I-90 will remain closed until Friday and a large swath of South Dakota continues to be under a "No Travel Advisory" as the state remains in the grip of a widespread winter storm.

Icy roads have resulted in one fatal crash. According to the South Dakota Highway Patrol, three people were killed and two others were hurt when a car lost control on slippery roads and crashed into a pickup near Parkston Wednesday morning.

State officials are advising against travel in nearly the entirety of the state west of the James River Valley, according to the Department of Transportation's 511 road conditions map . Driving conditions in the rest of the state are also poor. The map shows all roads not under the advisory - including the Big Sioux River Valley and the southern Black Hills - as slippery and potentially snow-covered.

I-90 from Mitchell to the Wyoming state line and I-29 from Watertown to the North Dakota border were closed Thursday. Officials said the closures will continue into Friday.

“Motorists need to understand that while we cannot physically close secondary highways, in many cases these roads are in worse condition than the Interstates,” said DOT Director of Operations Craig Smith. “We’ve had countless vehicles become stuck and stranded on secondary state highways in the motorist’s attempt to avoid an Interstate closures. Stranded vehicles create personal risk for the motorist and extreme hazards for snowplow operators.”

Officials are asking truckers to find long-term parking in Brookings or Sioux Falls. Truck parking in Watertown is full.

The South Dakota Department of Safety took the step of using the state's Emergency Alert System to send notifications to individuals' phones statewide asking them to avoid driving. DPS spokesperson Tony Mangan said the ongoing weather conditions warranted the use of the system.

There are multiple vehicles stuck on US 14 west of Pierre. SD DOT has deemed the road impassable. Please stay home as conditions continue to get worse. #keepSDsafe pic.twitter.com/An4PXRignY — South Dakota Highway Patrol (@SDHighwayPatrol) December 15, 2022

The widespread winter storm has impacted travel statewide since it moved into the area Monday night into Tuesday morning. In the east, the system began as freezing rain turning to ice. Central and western parts of the state faced heavy snow and strong winds. As of Thursday morning, high winds are causing visibility problems statewide.

The combination of new snow with wind will make travel difficult throughout Thursday into Friday, according to the National Weather Service. The system will be followed by "very cold temperatures" much of next week.

Significant travel impacts continue today through early tomorrow due to snow, blowing and drifting snow, and strong northwest winds. Blizzard and Winter Storm Warnings extended through midday Friday. Looking ahead, very cold temperatures expected much of next week. #sdwx #wywx pic.twitter.com/Vm4sJHhEMp — NWS Rapid City (@NWSRapidCity) December 15, 2022

The snow has begun in earnest for eastern SD, NE, and western MN, IA. Winds will be very gusty, 40-45 mph. Blowing snow and drifting will become a problem. If you can stay home today, please do. Travel will become difficult to impossible, especially out in the country. pic.twitter.com/PlZuNuebiE — NWS Sioux Falls (@NWSSiouxFalls) December 15, 2022

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No, South Dakota Can’t Ban Its Residents From Traveling to Get an Abortion

Soon after the constitutional right to an abortion was ended with the overruling of Roe v. Wade in  Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , elected officials in states that are set to ban the procedure were discussing the possibility of trying to prevent women who reside in those states from traveling to another state where abortion is legal to undergo the procedure. “There’ll be a debate about that,” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said when asked about the possibility of her state trying to implement a travel ban. Any such effort is almost certainly doomed to failure, though.

One big reason is that the key vote in Dobbs was Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who ruled out travel bans in a concurring opinion. Kavanaugh wrote that such a ban would fail “based on the constitutional right to interstate travel”   and described the question as “not especially difficult as a constitutional matter.” That view was echoed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in a post- Dobbs  statement: “under bedrock constitutional principles, women who reside in states that have banned access to comprehensive reproductive care must remain free to seek that care in states where it is legal.”

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Indeed, the Supreme Court has actually ruled on the issue before in a 7–2 decision in the 1975 post- Roe case  Bigelow v. Virginia . The defendant in  Bigelow  ran a newspaper in Virginia and published an ad for abortions in New York, where they were legal, when they were still illegal in Virginia. The court ruled that Virginia could not prevent its residents from receiving information about services that were lawful where they were to be performed. If Texas or any other state attempts to make it a crime for a woman to travel to another state to obtain an abortion that is still lawful there, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote in  Bigelow  that states cannot apply their laws to conduct undertaken outside their borders.

The Virginia Legislature could not have regulated the advertiser’s activity in New York, and obviously could not have proscribed the [abortion] activity in that State. Neither could Virginia prevent its residents from traveling to New York to obtain those services or, as the State conceded, [at oral argument], prosecute them for going there.

As the court continued, “A State does not acquire power or supervision over the internal affairs of another State merely because the welfare and health of its own citizens may be affected when they travel to that State.”

In other words, what a South Dakota resident does in another state, regarding an abortion or anything else, is none of South Dakota’s business. That is true if the person traveled to another state to be married at an age when their home would not issue that person a marriage license or to obtain a divorce on a ground not recognized in their prior state. Similarly, if South Dakota banned all gambling, it could not make it a crime for its citizens to fly to Las Vegas and toss away their life savings.

The court’s other right-to-travel cases more typically involve situations in which the state to which the individual has gone imposes a barrier to receiving a service or obtaining a benefit, such as welfare payments, for those who have recently arrived. In general, the court has allowed states to ensure that the traveler is in fact a bona fide resident of their new state, but not much more. The right to travel to obtain an abortion is the opposite side of these earlier cases, which were cited in  Bigelow , but the principle—that states generally cannot prevent or penalize interstate travel—is the same.

Still, after Dobbs , it is unclear that any prior precedent in this area of law should be considered a settled issue, whatever Kavanaugh says. Ideally, Congress would enact a law codifying the right to travel generally, and for abortions specifically, but it would be very difficult to avoid an almost certain Senate filibuster on that subject. But if a state like South Dakota decides to charge a woman who travels elsewhere to obtain an abortion where it is legal, or charges someone who takes her there as an aider or abettor, the Justice Department should intervene and make it clear that those extraterritorial reaches are unconstitutional.

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What to know about South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s banishment from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

FILE - A sign hands outside the entrance to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Oglala Sioux tribe, Sept. 9, 2012. A tribe has banned Republican Gov. Kristi Noem from the Pine Ridge Reservation after she spoke this week about wanting to send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to help deter immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and also said cartels are infiltrating the state’s reservations. (AP Photo/Kristi Eaton, File)

FILE - Former President Donald Trump greets South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem at the South Dakota Republican Party Monumental Leaders rally Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, in Rapid City, S.D. A South Dakota tribe has banned Noem from the Pine Ridge Reservation after she spoke this week about wanting to send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to help deter immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and also said cartels are infiltrating the state’s reservations. (AP Photo/Toby Brusseau, File)

FILE - Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out stands outside the Andrew W. Bogue Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Rapid City, S.D., Feb. 8, 2023. The South Dakota tribe has banned Republican Gov. Kristi Noem from the Pine Ridge Reservation after she spoke this week about wanting to send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to help deter immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and also said cartels are infiltrating the state’s reservations. (Kalle Benallie/Indian Country Today via AP, File)

FILE - South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem listens to Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairwoman Janet Alkire, unseen, during a tribal flags ceremony, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, at the state Capitol in Pierre, S.D. A South Dakota tribe has banned Noem from the Pine Ridge Reservation after she spoke this week about wanting to send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to help deter immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and also said cartels are infiltrating the state’s reservations. (AP Photo/Jack Dura, File)

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For the second time as governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem has been banished from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Last week, the Oglala Sioux Tribe said the Republican governor was no longer welcome on tribal lands, and its leaders referred to her rhetoric linking immigration and crime as opportunistic and dangerous.

“Our people are being used for her political gain,” said Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out.

After Noem suggested last week that the state send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to deter crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border, Star Comes Out accused her of trying to garner favor from former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Noem also said drug cartels are responsible for murders on the reservation and that they’re affiliated with a gang called the “Ghost Dancers” — which takes its name from a Native American religious ceremony. Historically, U.S. and state officials viewed the Ghost Dance as a threat of violence and sought to ban it, prompting a painful period of history.

Star Comes Out said the reservation has cartel and gang problems, but singling out a gang with that particular name and history felt like another insult to his people. Noem’s mention of the gang, he said, was the first time he had heard of it or its possible presence on the reservation.

Ian Fury, a spokesperson for Noem’s office, said in a Tuesday email, “All the Governor did was say the name of a gang that in fact exists and is in fact committing the crimes she referenced. She didn’t choose the name of the gang — they named themselves.”

Federal and tribal authorities have criminal jurisdiction on the reservations in South Dakota, and Star Comes Out wants more funding from the U.S. for law enforcement. Noem has previously pushed to expand the state’s jurisdiction. In 2018, as a U.S. House Representative, she proposed legislation that would allow federal authorities to arrest people on tribal lands for state crimes . It was widely opposed by tribal leaders, who saw it as a threat to tribal sovereignty.

Here are key questions and answers about the governor’s contentious relationship with the tribe.

WHAT IS THE GANG THAT NOEM REFERENCED?

Tony Mangan, a spokesperson for the South Dakota Attorney General’s office, said the Ghost Dancers are affiliated with a motorcycle gang called the Bandidos. The office does not know if the group is connected to drug cartels, nor does it know if the Ghost Dancers are present on the reservation, Mangan said.

Noem has cited cartels as responsible for homicides on the reservation, though her office didn’t share recent examples. Fury, the governor’s spokesperson, pointed to a 2016 murder on the reservation that was related to a drug cartel, but he declined to provide any information on other gang or cartel-related murders or any connection to the Ghost Dancers.

“Murders are being committed by cartel members on the Pine Ridge reservation and in Rapid City, and a gang called the ‘Ghost Dancers’ are affiliated with these cartels,” Noem said last week in a speech to state lawmakers. “They have been successful in recruiting tribal members to join their criminal activity.”

Star Comes Out, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said he had not heard of a gang called the Ghost Dancers until Noem mentioned it in her speech, and that he was unaware of any presence by this gang on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

WHAT IS THE GHOST DANCE?

The Ghost Dance was a religious movement that spread across Native American communities in the U.S. in the late 1800s, after a Paiute elder had a vision that their homelands would be restored and they would be reconnected with their ancestors if they practiced it. He also foresaw the removal of white settlers, whose violence and spread of disease had devastated tribes.

For many, the practice represented resiliency in the face of the tremendous loss brought on by colonization.

The dance involves holding hands and moving in a circle while singing throughout the night. In the early 1890s, U.S. political and military leaders tried to outlaw the Ghost Dance, fearing the movement was a precursor to an uprising in communities it subjugated. Around the country, tribal nations adopted the practice, and in South Dakota it became part of one of America’s most infamous massacres.

In 1890, hoping to stop the spread of the Ghost Dance, federal agents went to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to arrest Chief Sitting Bull, who they believed was behind its influence there. After a dispute, agents shot and killed Sitting Bull and several other tribal members. Following this, a group of about 300 Lakota men, women and children left Standing Rock hoping to reach safety at the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The group was intercepted by U.S. troops, who killed hundreds of Lakota people in what would become known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.

WHY WAS NOEM BANISHED BEFORE?

Multiple times since taking office in 2019, Noem has been at odds with tribal governments.

In response to her support for anti-protest legislation following the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council unanimously voted to ban the governor from the reservation in 2019.

Months later, the council lifted the ban after Noem and the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota reached a settlement, ensuring the state would not enforce parts of the “riot boosting” laws that Noem had crafted.

She also clashed with several tribes during the COVID-19 pandemic when they set up coronavirus checkpoints at reservation borders to keep out unnecessary visitors. When Noem was unsuccessful in getting the checkpoints dismantled, she turned to the Trump administration for help.

Nick Estes, an assistant professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, said he sees Noem’s adversarial relationship with tribal nations as an attempt to seize a political opportunity and position herself as a strong Republican leader. “It’s obvious signaling to Trump,” he said.

Noem is considered a top contender for Trump’s vice president pick in his re-election campaign.

Star Comes Out said Noem is the first person he has banished since becoming the tribe’s president in 2022. The ban restricts Noem from visiting the reservation.

IS CRIME A PROBLEM ON THE RESERVATION?

Yes. Star Comes Out declared a state of emergency on the reservation in November because of rampant crime that he said hasn’t been curbed due to the U.S. government’s inadequate funding for law enforcement. The state of emergency is still in effect, he said this week.

Last year, a federal judge ruled the U.S. government has a treaty obligation to support law enforcement on the reservation, but didn’t determine a specific amount of funding.

Star Comes Out said conditions on the reservation have worsened since the ruling, prompting him to sign an emergency proclamation, which said the U.S. government has failed “to fulfill the United States’ treaty, statutory and trust responsibilities to provide adequate law enforcement on the Reservation.”

Gun violence, drug offenses and sexual violence have become increasingly common on the Pine Ridge reservation, which is more than 2.1 million acres (849,839 hectares) or at least 4% of the state. Roughly 33 officers and eight criminal investigators are responsible for more than 100,000 emergency calls each year across the reservation, which is about the size of Connecticut, tribal officials have said.

Oglala Sioux officials have contended the tribe is entitled to federal funding for 120 fully equipped officers for the reservation, something the federal government has disputed.

The tribal nation filed a second lawsuit against the U.S. government last month to put pressure them to act.

___ Graham Brewer is a member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on social media .

Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15 ___

This story has been corrected to say that in 2018, Noem was a U.S. House Representative for South Dakota, not a Rep. in the South Dakota Legislature.

Abortion is now illegal in South Dakota. Here's what you need to know.

Abortions are now criminal acts in South Dakota, after the Supreme Court of the United States on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that established a woman's ability to terminate a pregnancy as a Constitutional right.

South Dakota's long-pending "trigger law" banning voluntary termination of pregnancies has gone into effect. Here is how South Dakota laws around abortion have changed, what's expected yet to come and some history of abortion rights battle in the state.

South Dakota's trigger law

In 2005, South Dakota put a law on the books that would make abortions illegal when the U.S. Supreme Court officially overturn the decision that's had Americans gripped in debate for decades. That happened at 9 a.m. Friday, June, 24, 2022.

More: Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, eliminating constitutional right to abortion

But there are nuances that come with the trigger law.

The law reads:

"Any person who administers to any pregnant female or who prescribes or procures for any pregnant female any medicine, drug, or substance or uses or employs any instrument or other means with intent thereby to procure an abortion, unless there is appropriate and reasonable medical judgment that performance of an abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant female, is guilty of a Class 6 felony."

More: Read more about South Dakota's trigger law here. 

What is a class 6 felony? 

A Class 6 felony is punishable by a maximum of two years imprisonment in the state penitentiary or a fine of $4,000, or both.

More: Will Sioux Falls doctors be charged for performing abortions? Here's what we know.

More litigation expected

Now that there is a total ban on abortion in South Dakota, pro-life leaders say there are plenty of ways to make the Mount Rushmore State the least abortion-friendly state in the country.

And that's exactly what they intend to do.

From increasing the penalty for abortions to adoptions laws and exceptions for rape and incest, there is still much more coming in the form of legislation on this issue. 

It's unclear when a special session may be called on the matter, but Gov. Kristi Noem has said she would call one when the decision was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. As of Friday morning, no immediate date has been announced.

More:  Here are four pending abortion policy battles that will come to South Dakota if Roe v. Wade falls

Neighboring state should see surge in patients seeking abortion access

Based on the available data projections, Planned Parenthood North Central State's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sarah Traxler, says Planned Parenthood North Central States, stretching across South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa, is expecting a 5-to-25% increase in demand for abortion services at Minnesota's abortion clinic locations alone.

"That's based on a [national] projection that only about 50% of those people who need an abortion would actually have the ability to travel," stated Traxler.

That means the other half doesn't have the means to travel, and are left with the option of continuing a pregnancy or finding a way to self-manage abortion .

More: How South Dakota's abortion access changes with the reversal of Roe v. Wade

Many people are fearful, angry

In interviews with the Argus Leader in the weeks leading up to today's decision, multiple professors from South Dakota’s colleges who are experts in history and gender studies, queer criminology, psychology and sexuality, civil rhetoric and constitutional law explained what circumstances lead to the need for abortion.

They also explain why people have come to rely on access to the option, the historical context of peoples’ fear and anger on the subject of abortion and how this decision could shape the future of other human rights.

Here is what they had to say.

Data: Who are the South Dakotans seeking abortions

In the five-year period from 2016 to 2020, there were 1,890 abortions performed in South Dakota that were reported to the Department of Health.

The majority of abortions were sought by women in their 20s, between 56% to 60% in the five-year period. Girls under the age of 18 accounted for between 2% and 5% of those yearly abortions.

Abortion is not uncommon among older women either. Those 35 and older have accounted for between 10% and 15%.

While the overwhelming majority of abortions are sought by single women, it isn't uncommon for married women to seek abortion services. During the five-year period, as many as 21% were married.

More:   We analyzed five years of South Dakota abortion data. Here's what we found.

South Dakota's history with the battle over abortion rights

Longtime South Dakota voters are grizzled veterans of the Great Abortion War. And now, with the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the 1973 decision that legalized the procedure across the country, those same voters know what’s coming.

In 2006, lawmakers passed a bill banning almost all abortions, which Gov. Mike Rounds signed. It set off a brutal campaign that became the dominant issue in a busy election year that featured a governor’s race and 10 other ballot issues. Voters rejected the ban by 56% to 44%.

Abortion opponents decided to make another run in 2008, collecting enough signatures to return abortion to the ballot. The key difference between the two measures was that the 2008 effort included exceptions for rape and the mother’s health. Opponents figured the lack of exceptions in 2006 had doomed their efforts.

They were wrong. The 2008 vote was nearly identical to 2006, with 55% rejecting the measure.

More:   Ellis: Why South Dakota voters could relive abortion battles of 2006, 2008

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South Dakota Is the Latest State Looking to Outlaw Plastic Bag Bans

More states have banned the bans than have banned the bags.

Mike Pomranz has been covering craft beer for nearly two decades and trending food and beverage news for Food & Wine for 7 years.

Growing concerns over plastic waste—especially from single-use items like bags and straws—has been a huge topic of discussion in recent years. As a result, a number of U.S. states have passed bans on these items. But thanks in part to America’s polarized political landscape, we’ve seen another, opposite response as well: Other states have chosen to pass bans on these kinds of bans themselves, preempting local governments from stepping in and taking matters into their own hands.

According to a report released last week from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), currently, eight states have banned single-use plastic bags—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont—and similar bans have been passed elsewhere in individual municipalities. But astonishingly, 15 states have taken measures to stop these kinds of bans, preempting plastic bags from being banned by anyone but the state itself. The NCSL says Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin all have this kind of legislation on the books.

Now, we may be adding South Dakota to that list. Yesterday, the South Dakota Senate voted 22 to 12 in favor of a bill prohibiting individual municipalities within the state from banning “auxiliary containers,” things like plastic bags, straws , and food and beverage containers. According to the Washington Times , at this point, no such bans exist anywhere in South Dakota regardless.

Interestingly, the reasons for supporting the ban ranged from nuanced to inane. Republican State Senator John Wiik, who co-sponsored the bill, provided a pretty compelling explanation by arguing that the sparsely-populated state is so spread out. “We [residents of small towns] don’t get to participate in the ordinance of these towns… But we have very little choice but to participate in the commerce of these towns,” he was quoted as saying. “I don't expect hockey parents from Pierre to know if Watertown or Mitchell has a ban on ‘auxiliary containers,’ and I don't believe that people who live in areas near big towns should have those decisions made for them,” he added on his blog, according to CNN .

However, Republican State Senator Jeff Monroe offered up an explanation that could make even a casual environmentalist’s head explode. “Every time I think about a plastic coffee can getting thrown in the river, it doesn't bother me at all because it sinks to the bottom and it's habitat for baitfish, it's habitat for crayfish, if you like to eat those, and I really don’t have a problem with that,” he said in a clip posted to DRG News .

Despite the result, the bill did face criticism from both parties during debate in the Senate. According to the Sioux Falls’ Argus Leader , Republican State Senator V. J. Smith objected to how the bill would take away control from local governments—a once common Republican talking point. “Sometimes I wonder when we move forward with a 'We know better than you' attitude, I don't think that's always helpful,” he was quoted as saying.

Still, having passed the Senate, the bill now moves on to the House which has a nearly equally-proportioned Republican majority.

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What to Know About South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's Banishment From the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

For the second time as governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem has been banished from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

What to Know About South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's Banishment From the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

Kristi Eaton

FILE - A sign hands outside the entrance to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Oglala Sioux tribe, Sept. 9, 2012. A tribe has banned Republican Gov. Kristi Noem from the Pine Ridge Reservation after she spoke this week about wanting to send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to help deter immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and also said cartels are infiltrating the state's reservations. (AP Photo/Kristi Eaton, File)

For the second time as governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem has been banished from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Last week, the Oglala Sioux Tribe said the Republican governor was no longer welcome on tribal lands, and its leaders referred to her rhetoric linking immigration and crime as opportunistic and dangerous.

“Our people are being used for her political gain,” said Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out.

After Noem suggested last week that the state send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to deter crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border, Star Comes Out accused her of trying to garner favor from former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Noem also said drug cartels are responsible for murders on the reservation and that they're affiliated with a gang called the “Ghost Dancers” — which takes its name from a Native American religious ceremony. Historically, U.S. and state officials viewed the Ghost Dance as a threat of violence and sought to ban it, prompting a painful period of history.

Star Comes Out said the reservation has cartel and gang problems, but singling out a gang with that particular name and history felt like another insult to his people. Noem’s mention of the gang, he said, was the first time he had heard of it or its possible presence on the reservation.

Ian Fury, a spokesperson for Noem’s office, said in a Tuesday email, “All the Governor did was say the name of a gang that in fact exists and is in fact committing the crimes she referenced. She didn’t choose the name of the gang — they named themselves.”

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Federal and tribal authorities have criminal jurisdiction on the reservations in South Dakota, and Star Comes Out wants more funding from the U.S. for law enforcement. Noem has previously pushed to expand the state's jurisdiction. In 2018, as a U.S. House Representative, she proposed legislation that would allow federal authorities to arrest people on tribal lands for state crimes . It was widely opposed by tribal leaders, who saw it as a threat to tribal sovereignty.

Here are key questions and answers about the governor’s contentious relationship with the tribe.

WHAT IS THE GANG THAT NOEM REFERENCED?

Tony Mangan, a spokesperson for the South Dakota Attorney General’s office, said the Ghost Dancers are affiliated with a motorcycle gang called the Bandidos. The office does not know if the group is connected to drug cartels, nor does it know if the Ghost Dancers are present on the reservation, Mangan said.

Noem has cited cartels as responsible for homicides on the reservation, though her office didn’t share recent examples. Fury, the governor’s spokesperson, pointed to a 2016 murder on the reservation that was related to a drug cartel, but he declined to provide any information on other gang or cartel-related murders or any connection to the Ghost Dancers.

“Murders are being committed by cartel members on the Pine Ridge reservation and in Rapid City, and a gang called the ‘Ghost Dancers’ are affiliated with these cartels,” Noem said last week in a speech to state lawmakers. “They have been successful in recruiting tribal members to join their criminal activity."

Star Comes Out, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said he had not heard of a gang called the Ghost Dancers until Noem mentioned it in her speech, and that he was unaware of any presence by this gang on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

WHAT IS THE GHOST DANCE?

The Ghost Dance was a religious movement that spread across Native American communities in the U.S. in the late 1800s, after a Paiute elder had a vision that their homelands would be restored and they would be reconnected with their ancestors if they practiced it. He also foresaw the removal of white settlers, whose violence and spread of disease had devastated tribes.

For many, the practice represented resiliency in the face of the tremendous loss brought on by colonization.

The dance involves holding hands and moving in a circle while singing throughout the night. In the early 1890s, U.S. political and military leaders tried to outlaw the Ghost Dance, fearing the movement was a precursor to an uprising in communities it subjugated. Around the country, tribal nations adopted the practice, and in South Dakota it became part of one of America’s most infamous massacres.

In 1890, hoping to stop the spread of the Ghost Dance, federal agents went to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to arrest Chief Sitting Bull, who they believed was behind its influence there. After a dispute, agents shot and killed Sitting Bull and several other tribal members. Following this, a group of about 300 Lakota men, women and children left Standing Rock hoping to reach safety at the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The group was intercepted by U.S. troops, who killed hundreds of Lakota people in what would become known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.

WHY WAS NOEM BANISHED BEFORE?

Multiple times since taking office in 2019, Noem has been at odds with tribal governments.

In response to her support for anti-protest legislation following the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council unanimously voted to ban the governor from the reservation in 2019.

Months later, the council lifted the ban after Noem and the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota reached a settlement, ensuring the state would not enforce parts of the “riot boosting” laws that Noem had crafted.

She also clashed with several tribes during the COVID-19 pandemic when they set up coronavirus checkpoints at reservation borders to keep out unnecessary visitors. When Noem was unsuccessful in getting the checkpoints dismantled, she turned to the Trump administration for help.

Nick Estes, an assistant professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, said he sees Noem’s adversarial relationship with tribal nations as an attempt to seize a political opportunity and position herself as a strong Republican leader. “It’s obvious signaling to Trump,” he said.

Noem is considered a top contender for Trump's vice president pick in his re-election campaign.

Star Comes Out said Noem is the first person he has banished since becoming the tribe’s president in 2022. The ban restricts Noem from visiting the reservation.

IS CRIME A PROBLEM ON THE RESERVATION?

Yes. Star Comes Out declared a state of emergency on the reservation in November because of rampant crime that he said hasn’t been curbed due to the U.S. government’s inadequate funding for law enforcement. The state of emergency is still in effect, he said this week.

Last year, a federal judge ruled the U.S. government has a treaty obligation to support law enforcement on the reservation, but didn't determine a specific amount of funding.

Star Comes Out said conditions on the reservation have worsened since the ruling, prompting him to sign an emergency proclamation, which said the U.S. government has failed “to fulfill the United States’ treaty, statutory and trust responsibilities to provide adequate law enforcement on the Reservation.”

Gun violence, drug offenses and sexual violence have become increasingly common on the Pine Ridge reservation, which is more than 2.1 million acres (849,839 hectares) or at least 4% of the state. Roughly 33 officers and eight criminal investigators are responsible for more than 100,000 emergency calls each year across the reservation, which is about the size of Connecticut, tribal officials have said.

Oglala Sioux officials have contended the tribe is entitled to federal funding for 120 fully equipped officers for the reservation, something the federal government has disputed.

The tribal nation filed a second lawsuit against the U.S. government last month to put pressure them to act.

___ Graham Brewer is a member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on social media .

Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15 ___

This story has been corrected to say that in 2018, Noem was a U.S. House Representative for South Dakota, not a Rep. in the South Dakota Legislature.

Copyright 2024 The  Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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South Dakota Bans Sale Of Delta-8 THC And Other Unregulated Hemp Products

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) signed a bill into law last week banning the sale of unregulated hemp products. 

House Bill 1125  prohibits "the chemical modification or conversion of industrial hemp and the sale or distribution of chemically modified or converted industrial hemp and to provide a penalty therefore.”

Under this measure , sponsored by  Rep.   Brian Mulder  (R), the sale of all Delta-8, Delta-10, THC-O, HHC and THC-P products and other unregulated THC products are illegal and treated as a Class 2 misdemeanor.

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Hemp and how it fits into the cannabis industry will surely be one of many topics at the upcoming  Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference  in Florida at the new Hollywood venue on April 16 and 17, 2024. Come and discuss if these types of bans on unregulated products will negatively impact the overall hemp industry and what to expect in the near future. 

When Donald Trump signed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, he effectively legalized hemp and hemp-derived products on the federal level, but not everything around hemp and CBD was regulated with this act. Under the bill, hemp is considered to have only 0.3% delta 9 THC. This leaves many questions unanswered and products without proper regulation. What about products derived from hemp, are they regulated as food? What about sympathetically made compounds that have psychoactive properties, such as  controversial Delta-8 THC  for example?

Thanks to these loopholes in the Farm Bill, various intoxicating hemp products have exploded across markets in the nation.

The newly signed law prohibits these types of products in the state, targeting various formats – from gummies and vape pens to smokable flowers.

The news comes shortly after Governor Noem (R) signed  three medical marijuana bills into law .

The  Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference  is being hosted at the  Diplomat Beach Resort  where the two-day event promises unparalleled opportunities to network, gain invaluable insights, and foster growth within the cannabis industry. Renowned for its cutting-edge discussions and profound impact on the future of cannabis, this conference stands as the premier event of the year for industry professionals.  Get your tickets now on  bzcannabis.com  – Prices will increase very soon!

Photo: Courtesy of  Creativan  via Shutterstock 

© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

This article South Dakota Bans Sale Of Delta-8 THC And Other Unregulated Hemp Products originally appeared on Benzinga.com .

South Dakota tribe bans governor from reservation over US-Mexico border remarks

A South Dakota tribe has banned Republican Gov. Kristi Noem from the Pine Ridge Reservation after she spoke this week about wanting to send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to help deter immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and also said cartels are infiltrating the state’s reservations.

“Due to the safety of the Oyate, effective immediately, you are hereby Banished from the homelands of the Oglala Sioux Tribe!” Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said in a Friday statement addressed to Noem. “Oyate” is a word for people or nation.

Star Comes Out accused Noem of trying to use the border issue to help get former U.S. President Donald Trump re-elected and boost her chances of becoming his running mate.

Many of those arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border are Indigenous people from places like El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico who come “in search of jobs and a better life,” the tribal leader added.

“They don’t need to be put in cages, separated from their children like during the Trump Administration, or be cut up by razor wire furnished by, of all places, South Dakota,” he said.

Star Comes Out also addressed Noem’s remarks in the speech to lawmakers Wednesday in which she said a gang calling itself the Ghost Dancers is murdering people on the Pine Ridge Reservation and is affiliated with border-crossing cartels that use South Dakota reservations to spread drugs throughout the Midwest.

Star Comes Out said he took deep offense at her reference, saying the Ghost Dance is one of the Oglala Sioux’s “most sacred ceremonies,” “was used with blatant disrespect and is insulting to our Oyate.”

He added that the tribe is a sovereign nation and does not belong to the state of South Dakota.

Noem responded Saturday in a statement, saying, “It is unfortunate that President (Star) Comes Out chose to bring politics into a discussion regarding the effects of our federal government’s failure to enforce federal laws at the southern border and on tribal lands. My focus continues to be on working together to solve those problems.”

“As I told bipartisan Native American legislators earlier this week, ‘I am not the one with a stiff arm, here. You can’t build relationships if you don’t spend time together,’” she added. “I stand ready to work with any of our state’s Native American tribes to build such a relationship.”

In November, Star Comes Out declared a state of emergency on the Pine Ridge Reservation due to increasing crime. A judge ruled last year that the federal government has a treaty duty to support law enforcement on the reservation, but he declined to rule on the funding level the tribe sought.

Noem has deployed National Guard troops to the Mexican border three times, as have some other Republican governors.

In 2021 she drew criticism for accepting a $1 million donation from a Republican donor to help cover the cost of a two-month deployment of 48 troops there.

Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15

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South Dakota becomes the 6th state to restrict gender-affirming care for minors

South Dakota has joined five other states that have restricted transition-related care for transgender minors in just the past two years. 

On Monday, Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, signed the “ Help Not Harm” bill , which bans health care professionals from providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery to minors as treatment for gender dysphoria, which is the distress caused by a sense of conflict between the assigned sex at birth and the person's gender identity. 

Providers who are already treating trans minors with puberty blockers, which temporarily pause puberty, or hormone therapy will be required to taper the minors off the medications by Dec. 31. 

The measure makes exceptions for intersex infants and for the treatment of conditions unrelated to gender dysphoria.

“South Dakota’s kids are our future,” Noem said in a statement . “With this legislation, we are protecting kids from harmful, permanent medical procedures. I will always stand up for the next generation of South Dakotans.”

Health care providers who violate the law could have their medical license revoked. Until they turn 25, minors who receive care in violation of the law can also sue providers. 

Elliot Morehead, a trans teen who uses they/them pronouns and had planned to access gender-affirming care within the next year, said the measure has “affected my future deeply.”  

“I was hoping to maybe start any kind of treatment for myself and now our legislators, who are supposed to support us, have taken away that opportunity for me and I’m bummed,” they told CBS affiliate KELO-TV in Sioux Falls on Thursday after the bill passed the Senate. 

Morehead, 16, told House committee members last month that they had to receive six months of therapy and a letter from their therapist before they could begin hormone therapy. 

“People think you can just like walk in and then get like testosterone or estrogen or puberty blocking — it doesn’t work like that,” they said, according to The Associated Press .

Over the years, South Dakota has been what advocates have described as a testing ground for legislation targeting trans people. 

In 2016, the state was the first to pass a school “bathroom bill,” which would’ve required students to use the school facilities that correspond with their assigned sex at birth. The measure was ultimately vetoed by then-Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, who said at the time that it did not “address any pressing issue concerning the school districts of South Dakota,” according to the Argus Leader, a local newspaper . Three states — Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee — bar transgender students from using the school facilities consistent with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project , an LGBTQ think tank. 

The state was also the first to pass a gender-affirming care ban in 2020, though the bill failed to pass a Senate committee. 

On Saturday, more than 400 South Dakotans , including trans youths, their families and allies, protested the bill’s passage in the Senate, according to Transformation Project Advocacy Network, a local trans rights group. 

Susan Williams, the network's executive director, said the organization has been receiving panicked calls from parents who are worried they will have to move out of the state to get the health care their children need. She noted that the bill moved from the Legislature to the governor's desk in just two weeks.

"These parents would need to get new jobs, say goodbye to extended family and the only homes their children have ever known — effectively driven out by the people elected to protect the citizens of South Dakota," Williams said in an email.

Following Noem’s signing of the bill Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of South Dakota said in a joint statement that the measure “won’t stop South Dakotans from being trans, but it will deny them critical support that helps struggling transgender youth grow up to become thriving transgender adults.” 

“But make no mistake–this fight is not over,” the groups said. “We will never stop fighting for the right of trans youth to get the love, support, and care that every young person deserves. As much as Governor Noem wants to force these young people to live a lie, we know they are strong enough to live their truth, and we will always fight for communities and policies that protect their freedom to do so.”

More than a dozen major medical organizations — including the American Medical Association , the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association — support gender-affirming care for minors.

So far this year, lawmakers in at least 24 states, including South Dakota, have introduced legislation that would restrict transition-related care for minors, according to an NBC News analysis. Governors in six states — Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah — have signed such restrictions. Federal judges have blocked bans in Alabama and Arkansas from taking effect pending the outcome of lawsuits. 

Jo Yurcaba is a reporter for NBC Out.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe is the fourth tribe to ban South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. 

• AMELIA SCHAFER, ICT/RAPID CITY JOURNAL
• Copy article link

Rosebud Sioux Tribe announced it has joined three other Lakota tribes in banning South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. 

Fourth tribe bans South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem

• BY AMELIA SCHAFER ICT + Rapid City Journal
• Apr 17, 2024

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Rosebud Sioux Tribe announced it has joined three other Lakota tribes in banning South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. 

Noem’s banishment was announced through a statement from the tribal council on April 11 in response to a string of allegations made by Noem throughout the past few weeks.

The tribal council said it decided to ban Noem in solidarity with the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

“Governor Noem claims she wants to establish meaningful relationships with Tribes to provide solutions for systemic problems. However, her actions as Governor blatantly show otherwise,” the April 11 press release said. “Her disingenuous nature towards Native Americans to further her federal political ambitions is an attack on Tribal sovereignty that the Rosebud Sioux Tribe will not tolerate.”

The council stated that moving forward it will only acknowledge Noem after she issues a public apology to the Oceti Sakowin and presents a plan of action for supporting and empowering the Lakota people through policy and legislation. 

The four Lakota nations that have banned Noem so far all cited similar concerns leading up to Noem’s banishment, specifically her recent statements regarding cartel presence, poor education and poor parenting on reservations. However, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s tribal council stressed that this decision was also due to longstanding issues with Noem since she took office in 2019. 

The tribal council cited concerns with Noem’s  support of the Keystone XL Pipeline  in 2019 and an increase in penalties for pipeline protestors. The council also referenced Noem’s opposition of  COVID-19 checkpoints in the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River Reservations ,  removal of teaching standards  regarding Native American history,  legal threats to the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe  regarding its medical cannabis operations, r eturn of unused Emergency Rental Assistance funds  in 2022 without consulting tribes, and delayed response to a  2022 winter storm that killed four Rosebud Sioux Tribe citizens.

Following Noem’s remarks on Jan. 31 regarding cartel presence on reservations, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe requested that its tribal flag be removed from the South Dakota state Capitol. The April 11 press release said Noem has refused to return the flag and has been repeatedly dismissed. 

Previously when discussing Noem’s banishment from tribal nations, state Communications Director Ian Fury said the banishments were “counterproductive” and encouraged tribal leaders to banish cartels.

Hours before her banishment from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Noem and South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced a new program meant to combat a lack of law enforcement on reservations. The program would allow potential tribal law enforcement to be trained in Pierre rather than New Mexico at the Indian Police Academy.

This story was originally published by ICT and is republished with permission. To view the original story, visit  https://ictnews.org/news/rosebud-sioux-tribe-bans-gov-kristi-noem . 

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