Lange: SD Can Learn from Minn. Statesmanship, ND Criminal Justice

Last week I noted the difference in fiscal politics between Minnesota and South Dakota. That essay arose from a conversation with my neighbor and outgoing state legislator Gerry Lange. In the following guest column, he exapnds the view to include North Dakota:

Recent headlines here in Madison and in Minnesota highlight our two states’ sharply contrasting value systems. Here in South Dakota, our leaders are telling us we’ll have to cut ecucation funding to balance the budget! There in Minnesota, the finally-elected new governor, a multi-millionaire heir of the Dayton fortune, is acting like a statesman with “noblesse oblige!”

Rather than slashing education and vital services, he’s calling on his own class of affluent “winners” to come up with more income tax to patch their budget holes. How could sister states be so different? Could be a matter of their preferring a number one quality of life where it’s worth the trade-offs: more taxes for better wages, better infrastructure, and no taxes on food, clothing, auctions, and building contracts.

National government publications are rich with “best practices” from other states. As legislators, we brought home numerous “success stories” from meetings all over the country. One of the best that could save us millions is as close as North Dakota! They’ve been doing “electronic monitoring” and intensive probation for quite a few years. Results? 1000 fewer in prison than here, and a ten percent recividism compared with some fifty percent in most states.

Most of our leaders in Pierre know this, so it’s puzzling as to why we don’t adopt this successful approach. Do South Dakotans really believe that converting colleges to prisons has been a better strategy? Do tax-fearing voters really prefer to balance the budget on the backs of our kids?

—Gerald Lange, December 2010

Sioux Falls 136th-Safest City in America

CQ Press has just released its list of the most dangerous cities in America. Sioux Falls is not one of them... but interestingly, Sioux Falls is not one of the very safest, either. Based on rates of murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft, Sioux Falls ranks 136th out of 400 cities with over 75K population. (See the full methodology here.)

Sioux Falls is still 12.5% below the national average crime rates. Here's a comparison with some other metros within a day's drive:

City	Rank	Score (% above or below nat'l crime rate)
Madison (WI)	99	–31.0
Cedar Rapids	123	–20.0
Lincoln	134	–13.1
Sioux Falls	136	–12.5
Sioux City	140	–12.1
Fargo	149	–7.8
Davenport	221	31.2
Des Moines	236	37.0
Omaha	239	38.8
St. Paul	298	74.7
Minneapolis	353	127.5
Kansas City	380	186.01

And now for your daily paradigm-buster: Remember last year when Senator Thune made some silly comment about how Central Park would be safer with some gun-toting Sioux Falls tourists to keep the peace? Golly, they must have gone there: New York City is ranked 132nd safest, better than Sioux Falls at 14.5% below the national crime rate average. Go figure!

Communities with Anti-Abortion Clinics See More Violence on Abortion Clinics

Here's an unpleasant correlation: reproductive health clinics in communities with "crisis pregnancy centers," anti-abortion clinics often run by Christians supposedly bound by Scripture to non-violence, are more likely to experience violence:

Just the presence of a CPC in the vicinity of an abortion clinic ups the potential for violence. A recent survey by the Feminist Majority Foundation of women’s reproductive-health clinics nationwide found 32.7 percent of clinics located near a CPC experienced one or more incidents of severe violence, compared to only 11.3 percent of clinics not near a CPC. (Severe violence includes clinic blockades and invasions, bombings, arson, bombing and arson threats, death threats, chemical attacks, stalking, physical violence and gunfire.) [Kathryn Joyce, "Right-Wing Christian Pregnancy Centers Linked to Violence," Ms. Magazine via Alternet, 2010.11.11]

If there are enough passionate Christians in a community to start a crisis pregnancy center, I would like to think there would be enough passionate Christians to strengthen the community's resistance to violence against fellow citizens. Alas, too many Christians appear willing to use un-Christian tactics to achieve their political goals.

AG Jackley: No Crime in Rez Chili Feeds, Daugaard Soup Suppers

The latest news from Pierre: there is no news... at least not in the "Food for Votes" scandal the Republicans tried to manufacture last month. Attorney General Marty Jackley has ruled that the chili feeds sponsored by Democrats on three South Dakota Indian reservations in conjunction with get-out-the-vote efforts were not crimes, just as the Democrats said. AG Jackley has said the same about allegations the Dems responded with about similar Republican events that handed out food and encouraged people to vote GOP.

Jackley takes pains to encourage concerned parties to seek redress from the Legislature or even from civil courts. But the plain fact is this: there's no crime to prosecute, contrary to a whole month of distracting non-policy sturm und drang from the GOP.

I'm just relieved that I can still get some free soup from Dennis in 2014.

South Dakota Third Best for Retirement

I recall a visit to Carthage three summers ago in which a gal at the Straw Bale Museum talked about recruiting retirees to move to town as a major economic development strategy.

She was barking up the right tree: a new report from Money-Rates.com ranks South Dakota as the third best state in the nation for retirement. Based on life expectancy, crime rate, economic factors, and even climate, the only states found more appealing for retirees than South Dakota are New Hampshire and Hawaii. (Getting mentioned in the same sentence as Hawaii is almost always good... unless we're talking about new volcanoes.)

North Dakota is fourth on this list: North Dakotans pay more in taxes and living expenses, but they also live longer and currently have less unemployment. The report gives us a slight nod thanks to being a little warmer... but if you retire here, you'll still need to hire some strapping young lad to shovel your driveway out in the winter.

Iowa is the only other neighbor in the top ten, ranking fifth. Money-Rates.com doesn't make a full-50 list available, but given that none of our neighbors make the worst ten list, we South Dakotans appear to live in a pretty good neighborhood for retirement.

According to this report, Nevada is the worst place to retire. Vegas-land has the second lowest state and local tax burden in the nation (6.6%, compared to South Dakota's 7.9% and North Dakota's 9.2%), but the state has high crime, high unemployment, and below-average life-expectancy. Still, do you need to live longer when you can see Rod Stewart right now?

So add that to the economic development website, Carthage, and all you other South Dakota towns looking to boost your local housing market. Lots of old folks want peaceful small towns that are easy to get around in. They'll also create jobs, as they'll hire out more services, like snow-shoveling and RV repair. Build those straw bale spec houses, Carthage, and tell those retirees you are the new Florida!

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Update 2010.11.11: Mike Knutson at Reimagine Rural picks up the question of recruiting retirees for economic development. He notes that lists are good fun, but getting readers of those lists to up and move to South Dakota still takes a lot of good salesmanship and local work.

Governor Rounds Gives Felons a Break

According to the conservative bloggasariat, my moral compass is irretrievably broken for voting for Clark Schmidtke, a man with a felony theft conviction, instead of Russell Olson, a man with a longer yet less grave criminal record.

So how big of a jerk is Governor M. Michael Rounds for granting executive clemency to ten individuals the day after the election? Grand theft, assualt, DUI... all excused by Governor Rounds. Criminals all told by Governor Rounds, "Let's put your record behind you. Go on with your lives. Serve the common good. And don't screw up again."

Note that the governor doesn't excuse all lawbreakers. He picks and chooses, just like the Board of Pardons and Paroles. He listens to their stories, assesses their apologies, their character, and their sincerity. He grants it to some and not to others.

But of course, he's a Republican governor, not a Democratic blogger, so he's entitled to make such moral judgment calls... right?

Vote Now: Do Criminal Records Matter in District 8 Senate Race?

The last Madville Times poll before the general election asks two questions:

1. Will Clark Schmidtke's criminal record affect your vote for District 8 State Senate?
2. Will Russell Olson's criminal record affect your vote for District 8 State Senate?

I'll take votes here in the right-hand sidebar until noon on Monday. Tell your friends, and vote now! And then 24 hours later, we can all head to the polls and finally cast the votes that matter.

Worth noting: you can read another, less well-written version of Mr. Schmidtke's troubles with the Minnesota court system in Friday's Madison Daily Leader. You cannot yet read any version of Senator Olson's encounters with the South Dakota court system in the Madison Daily Leader (at least not the online version), which has made thousands of dollars in advertising from Olson over the last four years.

Noem Advocates Obama Agenda on Medicare Fraud

Kristi Noem has updated her issues page, piling some new blurbs about her support for social programs at the top of her GOP talking points. Among the substanceless, specifics-less suggestions, Noem opines that we must "work harder" to curb fraud and abuse in Medicare.

Isn't that exactly what President Barack Obama is doing?

1. President Obama is spending $9 million to educate old folks to prevent fight Medicare fraud. (Hey! Where's South Dakota's piece of that pie?)
   
2. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will adopt new billing software that will catch fraud before the money leaves Uncle Sam's cash box. The software, much like what credit card companies use to protect you from unusual activity on your Mastercard, could save over $20 billion a year. This anti-fraud measure was part of the Small Business Lending Act, sponsored by Democrat Barney Frank, voted for by Democrat Nancy Pelosi, and signed into law by Democrat and President Barack Obama. Remarkably Democrat Stephanie Herseth Sandlin voted against this bill, along with Senator Thune and most Republicans.
   
3. President Obama's AG Holder and HHS Sec. Sebelius announced the Medicare Fraud Strike Force's biggest bust yet this summer when they announced charges against 94 tricky docs and other Medicare swindlers.
4. CMS is proposing a rule to classify Medicare providers by risk, do background checks and fingerprinting on the high-risk group, and suspend payment to providers upon credible allegation of fraud. But that rule proposal comes from President Obama's health care reform law, so surely Noem wants to repeal that anti-fraud effort.
   
5. President Obama also signed the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act last July to fight fraud against all government agencies, including Medicare. Herseth Sandlin got with the program and voted with Pelosi on this one... as did everyone else in Congress.
   

"Work harder" to fight Medicare fraud, Mrs. Noem? Sounds like President Obama is already at least five policy steps ahead of you.
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Bonus Health Care Refudiation: Perhaps Noem could work harder to stop scaring seniors. The Kaiser Family Foundation's September 2010 Health Tracking Poll finds 30% of senior citizens still think the new law includes "a government panel to make decisions about end‐of‐life care for people on Medicare"—i.e., Sarah Palin's death panels. Health care reform includes no death panels. Senator Charles Grassley said so... last year.
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Update 2010.10.14: Obama's G-Men catch another 73 Armenian gangsters who allegedly set up a ring of at least 118 bogus clinics and tried cheating Medicare out of $163 million. President Obama keeps working harder....

Transparency, Context, and the Sex Offender Registry

A couple weeks ago, after receiving some court documents from an eager reader, I questioned the usefulness of the sex offender registry. The wise Dr. Newquist supported a point that guides North Dakota law, that the registry can do more harm than good and quite possibly turn some relatively harmless offenders into more desperate, dangerous criminals.

According to an August 2009 Economist article, the Georgia Sex Offender Registration Review Board sampled its registry and concluded that 65% of folks on the list "posed little threat." 30% were "potentially threatening," and 5% were "clearly dangerous."

Social media researcher danah boyd speaks to the Gov 2.0 Expo about sex offender registries as an example of how government transparency is not enough: we can release lots of data, but we must include context and help people develop media literacy so they can properly interpret that data.

Boyd provides a draft of the presentation text. Among the important passages:

The problem with the registry is not its intention. Of course we want to give people the tools to protect their children. The problem is also not simply one of transparency. In fact, the transparency of these lists allows us to call into question how our laws are enforced. The problems that stem from the registry stem from the fact that people misinterpret what the data means. When the list of registered sex offenders is made available out of context, it's easy for people to misinterpret what they see. And boy do they ever. In most of your minds, a registered sex offender is automatically Evil Incarnate. So when someone has that Scarlett Letter attached to their chests, they are immediately judged without the circumstances and situation being understood. Transparency may allow us to see who's registered, but for this information to be used effectively, it needs to be communicated in context. In short, we need people to not just have access to the data, but have access to the context surrounding the data [danah boyd, "Transparency Is Not Enough," Gov 2.0 Expo, 2010.05.26].

Boyd also notes that she has done research that adds some important context to the statistics about the danger of sexual solicitations minors face on the Internet:

Consider the statistic from 2006 that 1 in 7 minors are sexually solicited online. This statistic flew around the press and was employed by Attorneys General across the U.S. to argue that the Internet is dangerous for children. This statistic was from a highly reputable source - the Crimes Against Children Research Center. The problem is not the statistic; it is accurate. It's what it implies without further clarification. Most people interpret this statistic as suggesting that 1 in 7 minors are sexually solicited by older sketchy adults seeking to meet minors offline for sex. Yet, over 90% of sexual solicitations are from other minors or young adults and 69% of solicitations involve no attempt at offline contact. Finally, the researchers used the term solicitation to refer to any communication of a sexual nature, including sexual harassment and flirtation [boyd, 2010].

When boyd publicized this research, a state attorney general called and told her to "go find different data." When she stuck by her research, that AG proceeded to trash her in the press.

The lesson here is not that we can't trust statistics or that we shouldn't look to data. Quite the opposite: the lesson here is that when we get statistics and data, we need to get even more information to put the data in proper context.

Taxes Got You Down? Try 22 Counts of Evasion and Fraud

The South Dakota media finally get around to transcribing this May 7 press release from U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announcing the conviction last week of Thomas R. Kelley, age 53, of Salem, S.D. A jury found Mr. Kelley guilty of "filing a false income tax return, impeding the Internal Revenue Service, two counts of tax evasion, three counts of willful failure to file tax returns, and 15 counts of passing fictitious United States Treasury obligation."

Mr. Kelley defended his behavior by claiming under oath that he was just following tax advice from Austin Gary Cooper of the apparently defunct Ten Foundation (also known as the Taking Back America Foundation... and again, I ask, taking it back from whom?). Mr. Cooper was convicted in 1990 for tax evasion. Cooper's bogus advice including telling people to renounce their United States citizenship in favor of "American" citizenship. (Get a taste of that nuttiness from this 2001 report.) Cooper and his wife Martha were ordered by the U.S. District Court of Colorado to stop peddling their bogus, illegal tax plans and to inform all of their duped customers of said court order. The Coopers failed to comply, which earned Mr. Cooper six months in federal prison for criminal contempt. (Wife Martha would have gotten time, too, but she didn't show for that 2006 hearing and was deemed a fugitive.)

As Mr. Kelley awaits sentencing on August 2, perhaps he will consider seeking tax advice from someone other than convicted felons.

Legal Question: Who Should Be on the Sex Offender Registry?

I have a journalistic and legal quandary. I'd like your input.

I received in the mail a court document—signed and stamped by the clerk of courts, receipt attached... it's legit. The document outlines an individual's conviction and sentence for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of "attempted sexual imposition." (Not rape, apparently: no penetration.) The crime was committed several years ago, in another state prior to the existence of our sex offender registry statutes. Subsequent statutes in that state appear to have required that individual to register as a sex offender for the past crime.

That individual currently resides in South Dakota. Yet that individual does not appear on our sex offender registry.

Now I'm still reviewing the relevant statutes. It appears that the same crime committed in South Dakota would not land an individual on the registry. SDCL 22-24B-1 includes felony sexual contact with a minor under 16 and sexual contact with a person incapable of consenting as sex crimes. But that statute also includes crimes committed in other states that land a person on that state's sex offender registry.

Now I'm not entirely comfortable with the existence of the sex offender registry. We don't have a murder or manslaughter registry (do we, Mr. Janklow?). We don't have a drug dealer or embezzler or DUI registry. Certainly all ex-convicts face criminal background checks and uncomfortable questions whenever they apply for jobs. But do we not impose this special legal burden on any other class of criminals, any of whom arguably pose as much social danger as sex offenders.

Still, the law is the law. If we have a sex offender registry, sex offenders are expected to register.

So some questions for you, gentle readers:

1. Under what circumstances can a sex offender from another state legitimately avoid registering on South Dakota's sex offender list?
2. Who does more harm—a man who gropes a 15-year-old, a man who kills a motorcyclist, or a woman who embezzles half a million dollars? (Feel free to expand the question with comparisons to other crimes of your choice.)
3. South Dakota requires lifetime registration of every sexual offender. Our neighbors in North Dakota notify communities only of high-risk offenders. Explains North Dakota:
   

   If the community was notified about every offender, it would dilute the usefulness of the information about the few offenders who pose a very serious risk to the public. Public notification about low-risk offenders may have the unintended effect of making them more risky. An employed sex offender living in a known location and who is participating in offender treatment is preferable to one unemployed, transient, and with no incentive to complete treatment [Office of the Attorney General, North Dakota Sex Offender Website FAQ #17].

   
   Should we change our registry to publicize the names of only the high-risk offenders?
   

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Bonus statistic: According to this 2009 PDF map from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, South Dakota has more registered sex offenders per 100,000 population than California. The national average is 228 per 100,000; South Dakota has 325 per 100,000, the eighth-highest rate in the nation.

BP Does More Damage than Failed Bomber: Strip Corporate Rights

Corporations are persons, right? Persons who threaten to damage our country deserve to lose their constitutional rights, right?

The Displaced Plainsman takes the square root of those two and asks this arguably reasonable question:

BP has caused millions of dollars of damage to the United States. The damage may be the result of negligence or criminal activity. If true, why can’t BP the individual be declared an enemy combatant for terrorizing the United States? The harm done by the spill is far greater than the harm that would have been done by the Times Square Bomb attempt. In fact, people actually died because of BP’s actions [LK, "A Question in Which I Act Like a Cranky Conspiracy Theorist, Sort Of," The Displaced Plainsman, 2010.05.11].

People want to take away Faisal Shahzad's rights as a person for bumbling in his use of firecrackers. Why don't we get as cranky about the real damage—human, ecological, and economic—done by corporations?

Giebink Trades House Race for Police Chase

Looks like Greg Kniffen is on his own leading the Dem charge against Gene Abdallah and Roger Hunt in District 10:

A Sioux Falls attorney is in custody after she led a sheriff's deputy on a high-speed chase that reached 100 mph at one point.

The Minnehaha County Sheriff's Department says a deputy attempted to stop a speeding vehicle around 2 a.m. Friday on East 26th Street in Sioux Falls. The driver, Mary Ann Giebink, ran two stop signs along Six Mile Road and continued to speed through the Pine Lake Hills housing development [Kushida and Dunsmoor, "SF Attorney Arrested for DWI, Marijuana," KELOLand.com, 2010.05.07].

Giebink is technically still a Democratic candidate for the South Dakota House of Representatives. But "first DWI, aggravated eluding, speeding, stop sign violations and possession of marijuana" just don't make a good campaign slogan.

When it comes to booze and pot, I'm a big Nancy. But for Pete's sake, if you just have to get lit up, can you just do it at home?

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Update: $5000 bond, ankle monitor... and bad pix in jail stripes. District 10 Dems, fire up the Independent draft movement.

ACLU Fighting Voting Rights Violations... Should Felons Vote?

Boy, and I'm grumbling about the state legislature potentially interfering with my Constitutional rights.

The ACLU is waging a class action lawsuit to fight disenfranchisement of American Indian voters in South Dakota:

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of South Dakota on behalf of Kim Colhoff, Eileen Janis and others, who attempted to vote in the election but were improperly removed from the voter rolls due to felony convictions. Because state law only disfranchises individuals sentenced to prison and both women were just sentenced to probation, election officials unlawfully took away their voting rights.

"Felony disfranchisement laws in South Dakota have a disproportionate impact on American Indians, who represent the majority of those convicted of felonies at the federal level," said Robert Doody, Executive Director of the ACLU, South Dakota Chapter. "Worse still, it's clear that confusion regarding the South Dakota felony disfranchisement laws has resulted in legitimate voters, even those who haven't been incarcerated for felony convictions, being purged from the rolls or denied the ability to register to vote or cast their ballots" ["ACLU Challenges Illegal Disfranchisement Of American Indian Voters In South Dakota," ACLU press release, 2010.02.08].

Taking the vote away from any legal voter is unacceptable. I've heard some good arguments that even our disenfranchisement of incarcerated felons may go too far. Certainly, criminals surrender certain rights when they violate the social contract... but can we justify sentencing, say, an embezzler or a drunk driver to permanent exclusion from participation in affairs of state? One of the best ways to help a felon rehabilitate is to make that felon feel more connection to the community. The right to vote on community issues forges a pretty significant connection.

Legislative Roundup: Toothless Legislation, Jail Bait, Beavers...

This week in the South Dakota State Legislature:

Genocide Concerns Us, But Keep Investing in Iran: The Senate Retirement Laws Committee stamped SB 21 "Do Pass." They did amend the state's request for unfettered investment in terrorist states. The amendment calls on the State Investment Council to "engage and promote compliance" with federal divestiture laws and authorizes the Legislature to "express its concerns" about state investments that may fund evildoers. In other words, more toothless paperwork. No sign yet of Rep. Lederman's promised legislation to outright ban the state from investing in Iran. Stay tuned....

Sex Sex Sex...: And you thought the budget would be all our legislators had on their minds. There are a slew of proposals relating to sex offenders and the life sentences our state imposes on them. There's also HB 1110, which eases the penalty for statutory rape for certain young and restless penetrators fondlers.

[Update 2010.01.24: HB 1110 primary sponsor Rep. Rich Engels drops by the comment section to clarify! See below! This bill is about sexual contact, not sexual penetration! Errors from the original post are corrected below—sorry for the mess!]

(Read carefully: this is tricky!) Right now, sex with someone under 16 is a Class 3 felony. However, if you're less than three years older than the victim, it's only a Class 1 misdemeanor.

HB 1110 changes the law to read thus:

If the victim is at least thirteen years of age and the actor is less than five years older than the victim, the actor is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Let's try to clarify, kids:

Under HB 1110, if you are this old...	...[correction] serious necking is a felony if she/he's this old (or younger)	..but a misdemeanor if she/he's this old
16	12	13–15
17	12	13–15
18	13	14–15
19	14	15
20	15

Correction: The rules on rape remain the same. basically, kids, don't go all the way! If either party is under 16, it may be rape... and it's probably stupid. And for pete's sake, don't do it a second time: HB 1110 makes second offense a Class 2 felony.

So under HB 1110, two legal adults, one 19, one 18, could perform the same act, sex heavy petting with a 14-year-old. The 19-year-old could get 15 years in the pen and a $30K fine. The 18-year-old could get a year in the county jail and a $2K fine.

Hmm... could we just issue stainless steel underpants to everyone and hand out keys with high school diplomas? (Now that would cut the drop-out rate.)

Darn You Beavers!: In the unnecessary legislation department, HB 1113 adds prairie dogs, raccoons, skunks, and beavers to list of critters GF&P can target on the animal damage control list. Thing is, current statute already says that list can include "other wild animals" deemed injurious to the general welfare. I guess certain legislators just want to say, "Skunks! Coons! Beavers! We mean you!"

Update 13:05 CST: But wait, there's more!

Tightening the Auto Insurance Noose: Driving without insurance could get harder: SB 87 would require folks registering any noncommercial motor vehicle to show their proof of insurance to the county treasurer.

Make Your Own Gun, Dodge Federal Rules!: A majority of the Legislature has already signed on to sponsor SB 89, which will exempt firearms, firearm accessories, and ammo made and used exclusively in South Dakota from federal regulations. Do whatever you want with your weapons, as long as you don't invade Minnesota.

Sure enough, the "Firearms Freedom Act" is a coordinated national effort. SB 89 copies language used in a "Firearms Freedom Act" proposed in Minnesota last year. Montana led the way, passing the first version of said law last year and now fighting Uncle Sam in court to keep it. Interestingly, the NRA may not be supporting this law.

Concealed Weapons Permits Hit Record in South Dakota

O.K., Osama, before you try anything funny here in South Dakota, I should point out that we are packing. Heat, that is. Secretary of State Chris Nelson reports South Dakota sheriffs issued a record number of concealed weapons permits last year, 16,907. That’s up 15.6% from 2008 and up 68% from 2005.

55,770 South Dakotans have concealed weapons permits. That means if you’re in a restaurant with 14 other South Dakotans, odds are 2 out of 3 that there’s at least one gun in the room. Make that a crowd of 50 South Dakotans, and there’s a 97% chance that at least one person is armed.

Funny: I thought that Obama fella was coming to take our guns. Full year in the White House, and he's not even counting them. Hmm... maybe that was the other fella....

But consider: if you think carrying a pistol around will make you safer, why hide it? Cops on the beat and Marines in Baghdad generally make no secret of their armed status. Wouldn’t a Smith & Wesson in full view on your hip send a much clearer “Don’t mess with me” message than a vague lump in your pants? Or is the idea of a concealed weapon to lure dopey bad guys in, get them to make the first move, and give you an excuse for live target practice?

I'm just asking. Commenters, fire away....

p.s.: Hankering for a little Wild West gunplay? Check this study by Robert McGrath of crime rates in gun-totin' Bodie, California, during the 1870s silver boom.

Madison Sunshine Expands Booze Sales... to Minors?

Sometimes irony is elusive. Sometimes fate dumps it in your lap.

On Tuesday, Madison grocer Dan Roemen told KJAM that he plans to use the old Mr. Movies store to expand his liquor selection. Tonight, MDL reports Roemen's Sunshine Foods failed its alcohol compliance check last Friday. Says the Leader, "Staff at Sunshine Foods completed a sale to a minor, allowing the underage purchase of alcohol."

Also worth noting: MDL lists 17 other businesses that sell alcohol in Madison. Assuming Roemen doesn't lose his alcohol license for his store's violation this month (dream on), that's 18 places to buy alcohol in a town of 6500 people.

Oh, did I mention...

Neighborhoods that are characterized by extremely high outlet densities may experience a variety of problems resulting from the presence of the outlets themselves, only partially related to levels of consumption. There is evidence that high alcohol outlet density contributes to increased crime and violence, youth violence, homicide, and other public nuisance and illegal activities [Marin Institute, 2006].

...and...

The level of drinking, drinking participation, and participation in binge drinking are all significantly higher among all college students when a greater number of outlets licensed to sell alcoholic beverages exist near campus. This is particularly true for underage drinking. [Chaloupka, F. & Wechsler, H. “Binge drinking in college: the impact of price, availability and alcohol control policies.” Contemporary Economic Policy, vol xiv, October 1996.]

...and...

Over-concentration of alcohol outlets is part of neighborhood economic and social disintegration. The area's economic base loses its diversity and becomes less attractive to both residents and potential retail customers. The proliferation of alcohol outlets is thus both a symptom of economic decline and a factor that worsens the decline. [Maxwell, A. & Immergluck, D. “Liquorlining: liquor store concentration and community development in lower-income Cook County (IL) neighborhoods.” Chicago IL: Woodstock Institute, 1997.]

...and for the family values crowd (i.e., all of us)...

By using spatial models, PIRE researchers have examined the availability of alcohol, (most often measured as alcohol outlet density per geographic region such as census tract), as a factor related to drinking and driving, binge drinking, child abuse and neglect, accidental injuries, and violent assaults. Some findings from this research include that higher on-premise alcohol outlet density (such as bars) are associated with greater drinking and driving, child neglect, and assaults whereas, higher off-premise (such as liquor stores) alcohol outlet density are associated with higher child physical abuse, and injuries from accidents, while both types are associated with more problem drinking such as binge drinking [Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, "Alcohol: Crime and Violence," 2006].

Seems to me it's time for Madison to do something Unexpected™ and make a real stand for public safety and economic diversity: yank Sunshine Foods' liquor license. Keep the Mr. Movies space open to a difference, better kind of business.

What Mugger? Madison VFW Worker Charged with Theft and False Report

Remember the story about the knife-point robbery at the Madison VFW in the wee hours Sunday? Evidently, the Madison PD has decided the claim was bogus. They have charged Jean McCarty, 55, of Madison with grand theft and false reporting. Says MPD, "It was learned through the course of the investigation that McCarty had fabricated the story of being robbed at knife point while closing the bar early Sunday morning."

Jean McCarty is the VFW manager and is one of the directors of the Licensed Beverage Dealers of South Dakota. She's also a fan of the South Dakota 9-12/Glenn Beck Fan Club. I'll bet she's wishing for smaller government right now.

Update 2010.08.03: McCarty pleads guilty to one count of grand theft, gets out of the false reporting charge, gets 180 days in jail and $1000 in fines. McCarty avoids four years in the penitentiary on the conditions that she pay restitution, seek mental health counseling, accept random searches, and stay away from the VFW, drugs, alcohol, and gambling.

Governor Rounds Pardons Pot Possessor; Newland Next?

I notice Governor Rounds issued another batch of pardons last week. Among the latest convictions erased from the record is Philip Schmitt's 2001 conviction for possession of marijuana in a motor vehicle.

Hmmm... do you figure there's any chance the governor might extend a similar courtesy to Schmitt's former fellow felon Bob Newland, who currently labors under an unusual if not unconstitutional restriction of his First Amendment rights as part of his sentence for pot possession? Come on, Gov—Newland's been behaving, making a decent living snapping photos... pot photos, sure, but for the good of public health and positive customer experiences. Newland has also been improving customer experiences for our tourists.

The Gov. lets off thieves and forgers and even a gal who beat someone up—what's a guy got to do to swing a break in this state? Pardon Bob Newland!

Update 22:13 CST: Guess who else thinks pardoning Bob Newland is a good idea? Hint: he's running for Congress....

If You Give Rick Millner a Cookie...

...he'll keep crapping all over you.

Last January the State of Minnesota shut down the Thief River Falls Excel Dairy, owned by Veblen, SD, dairy entrepreneur Rick Millner and the Dairy Dozen. The reason: stink-bombing the county so badly that neighbors had to evacuate their homes. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency graced the recalcitrant and litigious Dairy Dozen with a restricted one-year permit to get the Excel Dairy's act together.

So, a business violates the law, intrudes on other citizens' property rights without compensation, and the state gives them another year to clean up their act. What does the state get?

Between Aug. 29 and Sept. 21, the facility surpassed the state limit for hydrogen sulfide emissions of 30 parts per billion on 10 occasions, according to Gaylen Reetz, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency regional director. The highest reading during that period was 46, or more than 50 percent higher than the legal limit [Kevin Bonham, "State Finds TRF Dairy in Violation—Again," Grand Forks Herald, 2009.09.29].

Rick Millner and Excel Dairy have a legal permit. They have legal conditions. They have obligations to fellow citizens to run a clean operation. Instead, they take advantage of the state's generosity and repeatedly break the law. They continue to demonstrate they cannot effectively manage their own manure and conduct business within the law.

South Dakota should be embarrassed to have any connection with businessmen like these. The State of Minnesota should shut down Excel Dairy for good, and the law-breaking owners should get fines and jail.