In 2021, the Legislature passed a law requiring the Attorney General’s office to hire a specialist to focus on the problem of missing and murdered indigenous people. Killer Jason Ravnsborg ignored that law for over a year. Attorney General Mark Vargo needed five months to get around to hiring an MMIP coordinator:
Allison Morrisette assumed her duties as the state’s inaugural Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Coordinator on Monday, Nov. 28. An enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe, Morrisette last served as Adult Diversion Coordinator for the Pennington County State’s Attorney. “I am excited to begin this work,” said Morrisette. “A lot of my relatives feel they are overlooked. My job with the Attorney General’s Office is to ensure that is not true. In my culture we live by the words, Mitakuye Oyasin, which means ‘all my relations’ or ‘we are all related.’ I carry that belief with me into this new role” [Office of the Attorney General, press release, 2022.11.30].
A.G. Vargo also announced the hiring of Mary Beth Holzwarth as the state Human Trafficking Coordinator (hmmm… might want to add “Prevention” to that title, just to make sure Republican yucks don’t get confused and start calling for hookups). Vargo also gives space in his official press release to let A.G.-Elect Marty Jackley express his approval of these hires:
Attorney General-elect Marty Jackley agreed: “Allison Morrisette’s proven ability to work with different law enforcement agencies and Native communities will be a powerful asset furthering our commitment to serving all South Dakotans,” he said. “Mary Beth Holzwarth’s long track record of advocating for children will be a needed and powerful tool in our fight against human trafficking” [Office of the A.G., 2022.11.30].
Nice to see the current A.G. follows the law better than the previous one, and nice to see that short-termer Vargo is helping the new0old guy transition smoothly back into the office.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/30/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-actions-to-support-indian-country-and-native-communities-ahead-of-the-administrations-second-tribal-nations-summit/
Indigenous tribes are getting a whole pot full of money from Biden Admin., which magats will steal if they can.
Allison Morrisette, isn’t it almost ironic?
Nice try, Mr Anderson.
Cory writes:
Rainbows and unicorns.
Governor Noem’s DPS secretary Craig Price is a rabid Marty Jackley supporter, and Mark Vargo is Marty Jackley’s hand puppet.
From the Argus Leader:
I’d written:
From the AP via the Brookings Register:
In a flagrant abuse of executive power, Craig Price released information taken out of context from Jason Ravnsborg’s personal text messages, unrelated to any investigation, to smear him in the media and prejudice public opinion against him.
No prominent South Dakota journalist has publicly asked Marty Jackley or Mark Vargo for any comment on Price’s unethical behavior or Noem’s multiple deliberate violations of the separation of powers.
I’d written:
From KEVN television in Rapid City:
Marty Jackley was actively campaigning, with Governor Noem’s aggressive endorsement, to replace Jason Ravnsborg as attorney general, and zero prominent South Dakota journalists publicly asked him for comment.
Those journalists have arguably done almost as much as “short-termer” Vargo to help the “new old guy” Jackley “transition smoothly back into the office.”
Kurt, it’s a conspiracy. Take your CBD gummies.
Mr. Evans, are you a witch?
Cory had written:
I’d written:
Mark Anderson writes:
I’ve never used CBD. Do you think it would make your jokes seem funny?
I never joke, its just when I read nonsense I reply with nonsense. Its a cosmic joke
Every federal department and agency already recognizes Native America as the 51st State. While the Palestinian homeland looks like holes in the slice of Swiss cheese analogous to the illegal Israeli state, progress toward resolutions of Native trust disputes would have far more political traction after tribes secede from the States in which they reside and then be ratified to form one State, the 51st, sans contiguous borders with two Senators and two House members as there are an estimated 2.5 million Indigenous living on reservations.