Imagine my surprise the other day that I learned that former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle—now truly a DC resident—is one of “my” Super Delegates from South Dakota.

I hadn’t elected Tom to the position.  He got the position because of who he used to be—Senate Majority Leader.

It’s not that I don’t trust Tom to do the right thing should the National Democratic Convention need actually pick my party’s nominee for President.  I do.  He’s proven himself as a leader to me.  Tom even supports my guy—that dreamy young Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.  Another Super, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, also supports my man crush.

No, the problem is that Tom is even a Super Delegate and can vote any damn way he wants.

And I’ve even been hunting with one of our other Super Delegates—National Committeeman Nic Nemec.  He’s a wonderful, down to earth person and ex-Marine who I’d trust with my life. 

But I also don’t want him deciding who our party’s nominee will be either. 

You see, in America, I thought, these little things called ELECTIONS were supposed to decide who represents us.  And by the time the convention rolls around, even tiny South Dakota will have voted and expressed who its residents want to be the next Democratic nominee.  Same with all the other states through their primaries and caucuses.

The Super Delegates like Tom and Nic—both good men—are a renunciation of the Party’s past—actually of South Dakota’s once great influence through favorite son, U.S. Senator George McGovern.  McGovern played a major role in the 1960s and 70s in doing away with the influence of party “bosses” (sorry, Nic, sorry, Tom) and democratizing and broadening representation of many more groups of people in the Democratic Party.

But of course, diversity is messy.  “Those” people discover they actually have power and don’t always do what the party apparachniks want.

So, the McGovern reforms have been rolled back and we get stuck—not with bad people—but with a bad system.  People who have achieved their position—not through an election to be a delegate for the rest of us schmucks in the party—but simply through their past or present position.   They then get to make the most important decision in our democracy—who gets to run for President.

I hope like hell that Obama has the nomination sewn up or that Hillary Clinton has the good graces to get out and release her delegates should she fall short in the remaining primaries.

It would be contrary to the principles of the modern Democratic Party to select a nominee on the basis of insiders (no matter how well intentioned they may be) via a brokered convention while the Republicans—the party of privilege—can claim the moral high ground through actually practicing participatory democracy.

If Obama wants a boost out of the convention on the basis of “change,” let’s hope that it’s change for the future, and not a change back to the bad old ways of conducting smoke-filled room party politics.

Photo: Let’s hope the Democratic Presidential nominee really is selected in a way that truly is “Change we can believe in.”  Democratic Senator andPresidential Candidate Barack Obama addresses a capacity crowd at St.Peters College during the “Rally for Change” Campaign Event on January9, 2008 in Jersey City, New Jersey.  (wireimage.com photo)

Technorati Tags: McGovern reforms, Barack Obama, Tom Daschle, Nic Nemec, Hillary Clinton, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, 2008 Presidential Election, conventions

I'm about to go off on one of my "we South Dakotans think we are so much better than everyone rants."

You are hereby warned.

Apparently screwing regular, hard-working South Dakotans isn't enough for some in our business "community."  We've grown so used to low pay, poor working conditions, and no unions that it seems only natural that business owners would wonder, "Gee, could I pay people even less and essentially enslave them?"

The answer, for a while here in South Dakota, was "yes."

Check out this press release from the U.S. Department of Justice about that little family operation down Chamberlain way and their unique way of doing business.  Even underpaid South Dakotans making beds for this bunch wasn't enough (Hat tip to South Dakota 123 for finding this):

Robert John Farrell and his wife, Angelita Magat Farrell, owners of a Comfort Inn & Suites hotel in Oacoma, S.D., were sentenced on Friday, Feb. 22, in federal court in Pierre, S.D., for peonage, document servitude, visa fraud, making false statements and conspiracy, the Justice Department announced. Robert John Farrell was sentenced to 50 months of imprisonment. Angelita Magat Farrellwas sentenced to 36 months of imprisonment. Each defendant also wasordered to pay a $15,000 fine and will be placed on three years ofsupervised release following their respective prison terms. Peonage isa condition of involuntary servitude imposed to extract repayment of anindebtedness.

In November 2007, a federal jury convicted the Farrells afterhearing from four victims who had been held in involuntary servitude bythe Farrells. After committing visa fraud to bring Philippine workersinto the United States,the Farrells then enslaved the workers to perform cleaning and frontdesk duties at their hotel. During the trial, the victims described howthe Farrells controlled every aspect of the victims lives, includingwhat they ate, where they lived, and the hours they worked.

The victims described regularly working 16- to 18-hour days. When they finished their duties at the defendants hotel, the victims were then expected to work a second job at local fast food restaurants. One victim testified that she tried to join a Christmas choir,but the defendants told her that her first duty was to pay them backand that she could not spare two hours a week for choir practice. TheFarrells hid their activities by issuing the victims paychecks, whichthe Farrells then required the victims to endorse and return to theFarrells. The victims testified that they had hoped to send money backto their children and families in the Philippines...

Fortunately, U.S. Attorney Marty Jackley--yes, I'll admit, appointed by my favorite crony capitalist Republican, President George W. Bush--felt that this type of exploitation needed to end. 

At least one Republican in South Dakota understands human dignity and where to draw capitalism's bright line here in the land of "family values."  Fortunately, these despicable "business practices" now have less of a chance of catching on in our state where workers are essentially treated as meat.

Photo: "Meat" South Dakota's workers.

Technorati Tags: meat, workers, indentured servitude, slavery, Oacoma, South Dakota, Comfort Innn & Suites, dignity Angelita Magat Farrell, Robert John Farrell

Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Whoops, gotta get the Bill Murray move Groundhog Day out of that loop in my brain.

Here are your Must Reads!

MUST READS FROM THE SOUTH DAKOTA INTERNETS!

Maradona gives in
01/02/08 18:01 from black marks on wood pulp
So, Diego Maradona did cheat. Well duh. We all know that. Still, thisis pretty big news. This is Pete Rose admitting he gambled. This isBarry Bonds admitting he juiced. (That last one hasn’t happened yet,and probably never will...

• Two surprises.  First, Cory is a soccer fan.  Who knew?  Second, Maradona gives it up that it wasn't the hand of God that helped him score The Goal but Diego's hand.  That's like Barry Bonds admitting he juiced.  But in the USA, probably Cory and five other people care about this.

Has recession taken hold in Mitchell? More likely fading boom, experts say
02/02/08 02:02 from The Daily Republic : Mitchell
Newlycompiled statistics from 2007 indicate that Mitchell did not experiencea banner economic year. Whether the city is experiencing a downturn orrecession similar to what’s affecting other parts of the nation is opento interpretation...

• Guess we won't be seeing a Culver's on the west side of Mitchell anytime soon, huh?

Harrisburg to hire 56 for schools
01/02/08 23:00 from Argus Leader - News
HARRISBURG- With the new elementary school to open next school, year along withthe addition to the high school, the Harrisburg School District is inneed of more employees - 56, to be exact...

• But just don't expect anyone to tell you about it until it's done.  You'll get nothing, patrons of the Harrisburg district and like it!

MUST READS FROM THE NON-SOUTH DAKOTA INTERNETS:

State GOP went with what has not worked
02/02/08 06:03 from WE Blog
Conservative Republican candidates got trounced in every statewide racein Kansas in 2006, losing to either moderate Republicans in the primaryor Democrats in the general election. So what did the state RepublicanParty do last weekend?...

• Perhaps the same will happen in South Dakota in 2008?

L.A. Times Endorses Obama
01/02/08 20:35 from Rolling Stone : National Affairs Daily
It's a judgment thing. And also this: Clinton is an essay, solid andreasoned; Obama is a poem, lyric and filled with possibility. Clintonwould be a valuable and competent executive, but Obama matches her insubstance and adds something..

• Or the alternative headline: L.A. Times Ratifies Epp's Man Crush.
  

Technorati Tags: Diego Maradona, Mitchell, South Dakota, soccer, The Hand of God, The Goal, Harrisburg, teachers, recession, Culvers, Los Angeles Times, Barack Obama, Republican Party, GOP, Kansas, Bill Murray, Groundhog Day

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The following story from Bob Newland of Hermosa is a follow-up to his two previous stories on the lack of probable cause saga of Eric Sage of Sydney, Nebraska during last year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

• Newland: Chewing and Grinding Probable Cause and the War on Some Drugs
  

• Newland—Chewing and Grinding—The Rest of the Story
  

It is a cautionary tale of how easy it is to abuse our Constitutional rights and individuals in our country in the name of the war on drugs.

Thank you, Bob, for your contribution.

It’s common practice for cops to overcharge for violations of drug laws. This has evolved into a kind of, “Charge ‘em all, for everything; let the lawyers sort it out” attitude amongst some law enforcement officers.

[For the record, I do know a couple cops (one’s a SDHP) who say they hate the cannabis laws, and do what they can to avoid having to charge people for violations thereof.]

The overcharging gives prosecutors leverage in shaking people down for a plea to a lesser charge. A plea means instant money for the system, no work for the prosecutor, and the threat is gone (for a price) for the shakedown victim (the “defendant,” in prosecutortalk).

Most of the time, it’s the victim’s word against the cop’s. Most of the cases that make it to trial pit a long-haired working guy in a bad sport coat and malevolent necktie, accused of possession, against the gel-haired prosecutor and a jury pre-qualified by the prosecution to accept that a cop’s word is waaaaaay more credible than a drywaller’s word.

Eric Sage’s story below is the drug war played out at street level, where it’s treated as an informal taxation system levied mainly against the working poor. Eric had the rare experience of running up against a cop and prosecutor who disregarded the fact that the evidence was all on their victim’s side of the courtroom.

======================

NEBRASKA MAN SAYS PENNINGTON CO. STATE’S ATTORNEY “MUGGED” HIM

On Monday, Jan. 28, 2008, Eric Sage, of Sidney, Nebr., sent complaints to several South Dakota agencies and professional standards groups regarding the actions of government employees and an elected official.

Named in the complaints are So. Dak. Highway Patrol Trooper Dave Trautman, Pennington County State’s Attorney Glenn Brenner and Deputy Penn. Co. SA Gina Nelson.

Sage made a complaint to the Dept. of Public Safety about Trooper Dave Trautman, to the Attorney General and the So. Dak. Bar about Brenner and Nelson, and to the Pennington County Commission asking restitution in the amount of $3577.50.

The complaints stem from an incident on Interstate 90 ten miles east of Rapid City on Aug. 7, 2007. Trooper Trautman stopped Sage, on a motorcycle, and inadvertently stopped Sage’s three friends. They had been driving a pickup just ahead of Eric, and stopped also.

During the course of events, Trautman searched the pickup and found a pipe in a purse. One of the pickup’s passengers claimed the purse and the pipe. Regardless, Trautman ticketed everyone in sight for “paraphernalia,” including Sage, who had not even been in the same vehicle.

Rather than review the evidence and drop the charge, Pennington County Deputy State’s Attorney Nelson chose to take a case in which the evidence showed the accused person was innocent and make it a case which turned the accused person into a victim of the system.

Based, apparently, on the statement that Nelson had Trautman concoct for his report; that Eric had told the trooper that Eric had smoked marijuana, Nelson charged Sage with “ingestion,” a more serious charge than “paraphernalia.”

Sage alleges that Trautman and Nelson conspired to extort a guilty plea and a fine from him by threatening him with conviction of an offense of which they knew he was innocent.

“They mugged me,” Sage said. “They cost me $4000. I had to travel to Rapid City several times, I had to hire a lawyer, I missed work. It cost me three times as much to get them to drop a bogus charge as it would have cost me to say I was guilty of something I didn’t do and pay their fines. They only quit when they ran out of clubs to hit me with.”

According to Sage, Nelson went so far as to refuse to notify his attorney that the charge had been dropped, in November. “My lawyer called Gina Nelson several times to see if I needed to drive up on Nov. 21,” Sage said. “She wouldn’t return the calls. So when I got there, I found the charges had been dropped on the 16th. Gina had purposefully made me drive one more 500 mile round trip, for nothing.”

Sage cites several violations of the South Dakota Bar’s Rules of Conduct, as well as alleging procedural and legal irregularities in the actions of the trooper and prosecutors.

All documents are available online at
http://www.sodaknorml.org/SageAffair/complaints/complaints.htm

For further information, contact Eric Sage
Sidney, Nebr.
sage_eric@hotmail.com

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Technorati Tags: Eric Sage, Sydney, Nebraksa, Bob Newland, drugs, war on drugs, marijuana, probable cause, search and seizures, Constitutional rights, Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, prosecutors, Rapid City, Pennington County, attorney discipline, South Dakota Bar

KELOLAND News reports that a bill removing the restriction on cameras in the state’s non-Supreme Court courtrooms passed its first legislative challenge.

Read: Panel Approves Cameras In Court Measure

Excerpt:

… The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to approve the bill.

The state Supreme Court has allowed television cameras, still cameras and microphones to cover its oral arguments in appeals since 2001, but cameras and sound recorders are not allowed at the trial level… .

This is a good bill for several reasons.

First, it is good from a separation of powers perspective.  The Legislature ought not be able to tell an independent third branch of government how it must conduct its daily procedures.

Second, and more importantly, this is another step toward more openness in our government.

Allowing cameras to cover South Dakota Supreme Court oral arguments hasn’t ruined the Court or harmed justice.  Instead, it has enhanced the public’s view of the judiciary and how disputes are resolved.

The great boogey man that is brought up when it comes to cameras in the courts is the O.J. Simpson murder trial.  Critics point to the attorneys grandstanding for the cameras and Judge Ito losing control.

As an attorney with some trial experience, I would submit that the cameras only accurately reflected what was going on.  Given the personalities on both sides, I think the same thing would have happened.  And frankly, Judge Ito failed to control his courtroom.  I cannot see South Dakota trial court judges—who command and demand respect from attorneys, litigants, and spectators—from ever allowing such a free for all.

Further, even if the legislature passes the law and the Governor signs it, the Supreme Court will issue rules concerning placement of cameras, when courtrooms can be closed to cameras, discipline for attorneys who play to the cameras, and the like.

Sunshine belongs in our government—and in our courts.  This is a step in the right direction.  Case closed.


Technorati Tags: South Dakota, South Dakota Legislature, cameras in the courts, open government

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I just stumbled across the website, "S.D. Culture of Corruption," located at http://southdakotagov.info. 

It is authored by someone who obviously doesn't like the state's judiciary and has a major beef with it.

But what the beef is, exactly, is hard to ascertain.  The site is a graphical mess.  Something about Judge Rusch, censorship, a bunch of scanned documents, and whatnot.

Oh, and they support Amendment E.  Big surprise.

As an attorney, I can understand that some people may be skeptical of judges and lawyers.  Heck, sometimes I am too.  But what I find to be often the case with the pro-E people is that they seem to HATE judges, lawyers, and the judicial process at some sort of inarticulate gut level.  They are mad as hell about the system, but why, exactly, seems lost in a briar patch of accusations, documents, and conspiracy theories.

While there may be legitimate complaints somewhere in the briar patch, getting there is a trip through a linguistic house of mirrors.  (Ok, mixed metaphors.  Sorry.)

Maybe they just need a better publicist.

Photo courtesy of annamatic3000 via http://www.flickr.com and used under the following license:  Some rights reserved.

My law partner, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, will be presenting his oral argument before the S.D. Supreme Court at 11 a.m. today live in Bechen et al v. Moody County Bd. of County Commissioners regarding their denial of a referrendum on their decision to site two large scale dairies.

You can listen live to the arguments on both sides at the following link:  http://www.sdjudicial.com/index.asp?category=events&nav=54

You will also need RealPlayer on your computer as well and a T-1 or broadband connection.

This is a marvelous service to the lawyers and public of the state.  Past oral arguments on other cases are also archived.

New State Bar of South Dakota President Tom Welk provides some very interesting statistics about South Dakota lawyers in the March 2005 State Bar Newsletter. 

Here are some highlights:

*Where are most of the active SD lawyers located?

1. Sioux Falls 543 2. Rapid City 325 3. Pierre 154 4. Aberdeen 74 5. Yankton 46 6. Watertown 36 7. Brookings 30 8. Mitchell 24 9. Huron 23

*Number of active attorneys in SD: 1,671

Number of active out of state attorneys licensed in SD: 455

Number of inactive attorneys in SD: 134

Number of inactive out of state attorneys licensed in SD: 402

Total number of active and inactive licensed SD attorneys: 2,662

*Sales taxes generated on legal services in SD: $9 million

*Growth In Number of Women Attorneys in SD:

1993--338 women attorneys

1998--499 women attorneys

2003--617 women attorneys

2005--689 women attorneys

*Gross receipts for legal services in Sioux Falls alone: $57,739,242.00

Tom, thanks for a fascinating look at our profession.