Judge rules for victims of torture in South Dakota catheterization cases

South Dakota has the most draconian cannabis laws in the US and until recently members of the the law enforcement industry could even force catheters into urethras to test possession by ingestion. Forcing a catheter into someone's urethra without consent is rape, even torture. The practice had been encouraged by disgraced Republican former US Attorney and South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley. 

U.S. District Judge Roberto Lange has approved a settlement in a case that says South Dakota law enforcement’s practice of using forced catheterizations to obtain urine samples from suspects is unconstitutional. The ACLU of South Dakota and attorney Jim Leach of Rapid City filed the Fourth Amendment case on behalf of several individuals against the city of Wagner and the Wagner Police Department, the city of Pierre and the Pierre Police Department, the city of Sisseton and the Sisseton Police Department, and the South Dakota Highway Patrol along with individually named law enforcement officers. In the case, the plaintiffs said they were held down and subjected to involuntary catheterization after police obtained search warrants for urine samples to detect the presence of drugs, a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches. [press release, ACLU South Dakota]

Earlier this year the group South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws submitted to a Republican secretary of state over 50,000 signatures in support of a ballot measure that if passed would allow adults 21 and older to possess and distribute up to one ounce and cultivate up to three plants for personal use. If passed, the measure would also direct South Dakota's extremist legislature to establish therapeutic and industrial cannabis (hemp) programs. 

Legalization, inspections and regulation of a product that so many people enjoy is reasonable public policy that align with our life safety goals. But today, South Dakota's law enforcement industry is worried cannabis reform will lead to less revenue for police departments. Policing for Profit has allowed the Division of Criminal Investigation to provide military armaments for the industry throughout South Dakota. Prostitution will be legal in my home state before cannabis laws are reformed.