House Education assuages my alarm over Senator Jessica Castleberry’s (R-35/Rapid City) unworkable school censorship bill, Senate Bill 193, by killing Representative Jon Hansen’s (R-25/Dell Rapids) even worse school and library censorship bill, House Bill 1163.
Hansen’s latest sally into the “Save our children from Satan!” culture war would have demanded that every public school and public library prevent minors from getting their hands on obscene material. Like Castleberry’s SB 193, Hansen’s HB 1163 issued a big-government mandate to local entities, demanding that they establish a formal policy for protecting minors from naughty materials.
While SB 193 refers to material that is “harmful to minors”, HB 1163 referred to “obscene” material. Living up to his law degree for once, Hansen wrote his HB 1163 to refer to the existing statutory definition of “obscene” in SDCL 22-24-27(11). SDCL 22-24-27(4) defines “harmful to minors” in nearly identical terms, but preschool yogi Castleberry refers to neither existing definition and instead rewrites the full text of her definition in her bill, meaning that if the state every redefines the Title 22 definition of “obscene” or “harmful to minors” (to include, for example, Jon Hansen and the Republican Party), Hansen’s HB 1163 would automatically update, while Castleberry’s SB 193 would remain stuck with its obsolete definition.
In addition to better maintaining statutory integrity, Hansen’s bill is superior to Castleberry’s—technically, not morally—because it includes an enforcement provision. Castleberry’s SB 193 tells schools they have to compose a policy, but it doesn’t say what happens if a school tells Castleberry and her law to go fly a kite (whose poky edges and tangly string could be harmful to minors…). Hansen, who loves big government and the punishments it can inflict on naughty people, writes HB 1163 to order the withholding of public funds from any school or public library that doesn’t follow his law and the policy he demands.
Believe it or not, House Education did not experience the same arousal from HB 1163 that Hansen did. Senator Castleberry crossed the hall to testify for Hansen’s bill. The committee voted to amend Hansen’s bill to make it sound more like Castleberry’s, referring to “material harmful to minors” instead of “obscene material”.
And then they killed it. Representative Scott Odenbach’s (R-31/Spearfish) motion to pass HB 1163, seconded by fellow right-wing radical Representative Fred Deutsch (R-4/Florence), failed on a 6–8 vote. Seven of those nays came from rookie Representatives: Republicans Heermann, Arlint, Sauder, Moore, Mulder, and Tordsen and Democrat Emery. House Ed chair Representative Mike Stevens (R-18/Yankton) cited local control (as real Republicans are supposed to do—shall we call Hansen, Odenbach, and Deutsch the RINOs?) joined the nays and averted a tie. After that close shoot-down, right-wing ayes Bethany Soye and Phil Jensen appear to have left in a huff before the committee voted 9–3 to defer Hansen’s bill to the 41st day (translation: kill it!). Rep. Deutsch surrendered and voted with the bill killers.
So if good Godly Jon Hansen can’t get his school/library censorship bill past his own House colleagues on House Education, Jessica Castleberry probably won’t get her school censorship bill over the finish line, either. Good job, House rookies!
SB 193 awaits a hearing before Senate Education, which has a higher proportion of apparent mainstream Republicans than House Education.
Gosh the RINOS won. They went along with letting trans kids kill themselves however in the red bloody state of South Dakota.
Contrast with the 2023 Indiana bill which exempts schools and public libraries, but not universities:
“Material harmful to minors. Removes schools and certain public libraries from the list of entities eligible for a specified defense to criminal prosecutions alleging: (1) the dissemination of material harmful to minors; or (2) a performance harmful to minors. Adds colleges and universities to the list of entities eligible for a specified defense to criminal prosecutions alleging: (1) the dissemination of material harmful to minors; or (2) a performance harmful to minors.”
https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/senate/12
Mr. H, Satan is not as bad as you are alluding. Ask any witch you know and hang with, like you youngsters say. Satan is probably mostly misunderstood.
It seems the responsible people in the Republican Legislature’s leadership are getting cold feet about following the Governor’s “culture war” into public school classrooms. They are getting plenty of feedback from school districts in their legislative district and are hearing from people at the local level who support their local school boards, administrators, and teachers. Overall, people in South Dakota are VERY supportive of the work of their local schools. There are always some soreheads, tax protesters, and radical nut cases around who attack the schools, but these folks are a distinct minority and get much more attention than they deserve.
You know, South Dakota is better on this than Florida. A law that doesn’t allow discussion of racism in K-3 now has a book written for K-3 on Roberto Clemente being reviewed in Duvall County because it has discussion of racism which is a no no. DeSantis wants to whitewash all talk of history so our wonderful children won’t be disturbed by the reality of race or gender. It’s funny, the whitewash is keeping them in the dark on all of the things they need to know
The developer of the Critical Race Theory BS now runs New College in Sarasota along with a Hillsdale boy. It’s rather sad that imbeciles who are totally political will ruin education in Florida. Noem and the SD magrats of course have to try to live up to Desantis in all of this. It’s probably better that South Dakota has been red forever. RINO’s are the result and will perhaps keep the nonsense of the Magas at bay.
@Mark – I have lots of cousins on both my mom’s and dad’s side who grew up in Central Florida. It’s true that Florida has poor education and Governor Rhonda is making it worse. Governor Noem is on the same bus to educational mediocrity.
Parents. If you care about your kids don’t make them grow up in Florida or South Dakota or Texas or Missouri or any red state. Please!
It is a sad reality that selling newspapers in a red state means throwing children under the bus every day and reporting that blastocysts have more rights than the women who bear them.
Normalizing the antics of people like Fred Deutsch, Scott Odenbach and Jessica Castleberry puts journalists at credible risk for even publishing their madness.
South Dakota scares me.
I’m with my good friend Lar on this one. Newspapers should be shut down and Mr. Dr. Deutsch should be bonked on the head. Lar, when was the last time you and Mr. Dr. Deutsch met up for breakfast in Belle?