South Dakota violating Indian Child Welfare Act, 'bad man clause'

Update, 13:30 MST: Summit of stakeholders scheduled for April in Rapid City. Kristi Eaton is a goddess for the AP: her piece appears at SFGate.

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NPR follows up on its original story. Laura Sullivan reports that South Dakota Department of Social Services has likely broken federal law:

"I've seen it firsthand," says Brandon Sazue, chairman of the Crow Creek tribe. "That would be like United States going into a foreign country and saying, 'Hey, I'm taking your kid because of this or that,' " he said. "I mean, this is within the boundaries of the Crow Creek Sioux Indian reservation, and as far as I'm concerned, we are the government." Officials with that agency say that when native children are placed in foster care, South Dakota and other states generally move the children onto Medicaid, which is heavily subsidized by millions in federal dollars.

The State is also most certainly in violation of the 'Bad Man Clause' because federal money is involved: it has been applied in other legal actions according to a report by Mary Garrigan in the Rapid City Journal:

The "bad man" legal argument was successfully used by Lavetta Elk, another Oglala Sioux, in a lawsuit alleging that a U.S. Army recruiter had violated the "bad man" clause when he sexually molested her while transporting her to a military recruiting appointment. Elk recently won a $650,000 settlement that left intact a federal judge's ruling that said the treaty language requires the government to reimburse Sioux tribe members who are injured by "any wrong" done by "bad men among the whites, or among other people subject to the authority of the United States."

It's well known that South Dakota is a moocher state and will shaft anybody it can to make $1.59.

One red state commenter at reporter Bob Mercer's blog, Pure Pierre Politics, believes DSS is broken because women employed there hyphenate their names.

Stupid fuckers.

For a good look at why Mike Rounds is such a shitty candidate check out this post at South Dakota Kos.