Retiring Judge Bjorkman Speaks to Sioux Falls Democratic Forum Friday

My sponsors at the Sioux Falls Democratic Forum have landed an interesting speaker for Friday’s luncheon. Addressing all interested listeners at noon at the Sioux Falls VFW will be Judge Tim Bjorkman, who will offer “A Judicial Perspective on Mass Imprisonment: Its Profound Impact on South Dakota’s Social, Cultural, and Economic Well Being.”

Judge Bjorkman serves the First Judicial Circuit, which runs along the Missouri from Buffalo County to Union County and reaches up to Hanson and McCook counties. He comes highly recommended by a First Circuit native and Governor’s chief of staff Tony Venhuizen, who clerked for Judge Bjorkman:

…any replacement for Bjorkman will be stepping into the shoes of a very thoughtful judge, said Venhuizen, who served as Bjorkman’s law clerk in 2008 and 2009.

“He’s the type of guy you’d want as a judge,” Venhuizen said. “He’s very thoughtful and very interested in doing the right thing” [Jake Shama, “Mitchell, Yankton Judges to Retire,” Mitchell Daily Republic, 2017.03.21].

Venhuizen was responding to Judge Bjorkman’s announcement in March that he will retire from the bench come July.

The Mitchell Daily Republic featured some noteworthy comments from Judge Bjorkman’s bench in 2010:

To Steven Youmans, a 21-year-old man who admitted to consuming alcohol and testing positive for marijuana while on probation: “When I look at the pre-sentence report, I see that you lied to me when you stood before me about your marijuana abuse. I don’t take offense myself as a person, but for the system of justice that governs … you offended that system when you lied.”

…To Patricia Erler, a 61-year-old woman who admitted to receiving approximately $2,000 in fraudulent unemployment funds: “I’m torn, Ms. Erler, because of the insidious nature of fraud. It’s hard to detect. It’s a blight on our society, frankly, and there seems to be an increasing disrespect for money that comes from the government. There needs to be a clear message, in my view, that it won’t be treated lightly.”

To Loren Mead, a 19-year-old man who admitted to drinking alcohol while on probation: “Every time that you appear in front of the court, any sympathy that your own personal history might generate is less and less. He didn’t set any beer in front of you or make you drink or cause you to skip out on your treatment program. Those were all choices you made, weren’t they? That’s really what life is all about. Sometimes to be an adult man or woman is about accepting the moral responsibility for our own actions and not looking for someone else to blame” [“Quotes from the Courtroom,” Mitchell Daily Republic, 2010.12.28].

Judge Bjorkman explained that his bench commentary arose from the pattern of family breakdown that he saw in pre-sentencing reports:

Bjorkman said he didn’t initially plan to attach words of wisdom to his sentences. It just happened naturally as a byproduct of his analysis of pre-sentence reports, which contain information on the criminal’s family, education and substance-abuse history. Bjorkman said the reports indicate a “disintegration” of the family structure.

“The breakdown of the family is the most powerful component,” he said. “Probably 85 percent of the people who stand in front of me on a felony sentencing grew up without a father in the home or grew up with an alcoholic, drug-addicted or abusive father. Usually, two of those three exist.”

But Bjorkman is careful to point out that a rough history does not excuse criminal action [Adam Kaus, “Local Judge Mixes Commentary in with Sentencing,” Mitchell Daily Republic, 2010.12.28].

Listeners can learn more from Judge Bjorkman about his view of imprisonment in South Dakota at the Democratic Forum Friday at the Sioux Falls VFW on South Minnesota.