Riot boosting bill gets a boost in committee

PIERRE — A bill that would provide penalties for rioters was seen as a threat to First Amendment rights Feb. 12 during a hearing before the House State Affairs Committee.

A similar bill to provide penalties for rioting or riot boosting was approved by the Legislature last year. It was challenged in the courts and struck down as unconstitutional.

HB1117 seeks criminal penalties when three or more people cause injury to people or damage to property.

The bill promotes law and order while protecting individuals’ rights to free speech according to Tom Hart, general counsel for Gov. Kristi Noem.

“Violence is not afforded any protections under the constitution,” said Katie Hruska, deputy general counsel for Noem. “This legislation only protects First Amendment rights.”

The bill was also supported by Dick Tieszen, representing the South Dakota Sheriffs’ Association. Tieszen said the law may never need to be used.

“Law enforcement hopes there will be no need for our intervention,” Tieszen said, adding that it would only be needed if “peaceful protest becomes violent.”

The hearing room included many Native Americas with testimony often targeting possible protests of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

The bill “is an unnecessary effort to legislate peaceful protest,” according to Candi Brings Plenty, indigenous justice organizer for the ACLU of South Dakota.

Remi Bald Eagle of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe called the bill a “constitutional experiment.”

“Existing criminal laws are adequate to protect us,” Bald Eagle said. “How can it be a crime to protect our future?”

The legislation is the result of interference from special interests according to Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of the NDN Collective in Rapid City. Tilsen said that Noem has accepted campaign contributions from pipeline interests.

“This is special interests at play,” Tilsen said, who noted that caring for Mother Earth is a Native American’s cultural duty. “We should not be criminalized for it.”

Rep. Steven Haugaard, R-Sioux Falls, questioned the need to include felony penalties in the bill.

“When I look at other states, I see mostly misdemeanors,” Haugaard said.

Hruska said the penalties go back to riot laws that were enacted in 1877.

“I’m not impressed with the way this has developed,” Haugaard said, calling the state’s relationship with Native Americans “unnecessarily strained.”

According to Rep. Spencer Gosch, R-Glenham, the bill simply takes violence out of peaceful protest.

“I don’t have to worry about you swinging at me,” Gosch said, “and you don’t have to worry about me swinging at you.”

The bill was approved by the committee on a 10-3 vote and now goes to the full House.