Project Prison Reset begins to meet
SFSD cell phone survey results are in
The group also toured the current state penitentiary in Sioux Falls on Wednesday. Minnehaha County State's Attorney Daniel Haggar is not mincing words on what he saw.
'I think everyone would agree, walking through those facilities this morning, we have a lot of people in there,' Haggar said. 'We have a lot of people packed in there. It's not safe.'
Republican State Sen. Ernie Otten, who's also on the task force, lives around 10 miles from the Lincoln County site.
'One thing I think is a given, no matter where you try to put this, you're going to have resistance from folks,' Otten said. 'Nobody wants a prison next door to them.'
And he's heard a lot from people who live nearby.
'They're not happy,' Otten said.
Even though the state had focused on a putting a new men's prison at the Lincoln County site, when announcing the task force's creation. Otten wants to hear about other spots.
'We have to find out what were the other sites that they looked at, and so we'll take a peek at those,' Otten said.
After all, in more ways than one, the new look at a familiar question is about what comes next: not only for the state and its Department of Corrections, but for the people behind bars, wherever that might eventually be.
'We need to have a plan to address how we're going to incarcerate folks safely, but also that other big component, have the spaces for rehabilitation, for preparing for reentry,' said Republican Sen. Chris Karr of Sioux Falls, who sits on the task force.
The group will gather at the Military Heritage Alliance in Sioux Falls Thursday for discussion, presentations and public commentary. KELOLAND News will have a camera there so viewers can watch the afternoon session live on our website.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
14 minutes ago
- The Hill
NIH cancels mRNA vaccine contracts, citing lack of public trust
National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya claims the federal government recently cancelled millions of dollars' worth of mRNA research contracts because the general public does not trust the technology. Bhattacharya explained the reason behind the abrupt contract cancellations, first, during an episode of Republican political strategist Steve Bannon's podcast 'War Room' last week and again in an opinion piece recently published in The Washington Post. In the article, Bhattacharya called the mRNA platform a 'promising technology' and acknowledged that it may lead to breakthroughs in treatment for diseases like cancer. 'But as a vaccine intended for broad public use, especially during a public health emergency, the platform has failed a crucial test: earning public trust,' he wrote. 'No matter how elegant the science, a platform that lacks credibility among the people it seeks to protect cannot fulfill its public health mission.' Bhattacharya's explanation for the administration's pivot away from mRNA technology differs from that of his boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy announced last week the agency would wind down its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and cancel $500 million worth of contracts related to the technology. He said that mRNA technologies funded during the pandemic failed to meet current scientific standards and that the federal government would shift its focus to whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms. Bhattacharya expressed concern in the article about mRNA vaccines' ability to direct human cells to produce spike proteins to trigger an immune response. He argues the scientific community does not have a clear understanding of where mRNA product stays in the body, for how long, and whether other proteins are created in the process. Scott Hensley, a microbiology professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, told STAT that these are also issues with vaccines that use live but weakened viruses like the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, which federal health agencies have deemed safe and effective. 'This is why we complete human clinical studies before vaccines are widely used in humans,' he told the outlet. 'The mRNA and live attenuated vaccine platforms have both proven to be safe and effective in clinical trials.' He blamed public distrust in mRNA on the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandates during the pandemic. Bhattacharya expressed concern in the article about mRNA vaccines' ability to direct human cells to produce spike proteins to trigger an immune response. He argues the scientific community does not have a clear understanding of where the mRNA product stays in the body, for how long, and whether other proteins are created in the process. 'Science isn't propaganda,' he wrote. 'It's humility. And when public health officials stopped communicating with humility, we lost much of the public, an absolute necessity for any vaccine platform.'
Miami Herald
14 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Judge to rule within a week on whether to temporarily shutter Alligator Alcatraz
The fate of Alligator Alcatraz is now in the hands of a Miami federal judge who over the last four months sanctioned Florida's Republican attorney general and blocked police from enforcing a new state immigration law. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said Wednesday following days of testimony about the environmental impacts of the Everglades immigration detention camp that she plans to rule no later than Aug. 21 on a request to temporarily shut it down. Were she to side with the plaintiffs, it would be a significant blow to the Trump and DeSantis administrations, which have touted the hastily constructed detention center as a successful new tool in the president's mass-deportation campaign. Williams, an Obama appointee, is presiding over a lawsuit filed by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice and the Miccosukee Tribe alleging the federal government and the state dodged federal environmental regulations. They say the DeSantis and Trump administrations ignored the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental review for any 'major' federal action. Williams has already given the plaintiffs a small victory in the case. As part of unexpectedly long multiple-day proceedings, Williams last week placed a restraining order on construction at the site until Aug. 21. She said Wednesday that she would issue her ruling on the proposed temporary injunction halting Alligator Alcatraz operations within that timeframe. An injunction would hold until a verdict is reached in the case, unless a government appeal on the ruling is successful. State lawyers said during the hearing they plan to appeal immediately if Williams issues an injunction. In order for an injunction to go into place, the environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe have to prove there will be 'irreparable harm' done to the environment around the site, plus a high likelihood that they will win the case. They also have to prove that damages to the ecosystem will outweigh any harm done to the government if the facility is shut down. Lawyers from the Trump and DeSantis administrations have dismissed concerns about environmental damages. But they have also argued jurisdictional issues, saying NEPA doesn't apply to Alligator Alcatraz because it is state-run and state-funded. 'A local plan does not become a major federal action upon federal approval,' said state lawyer Jesse Panuccio, citing case law. The question of who runs the site — since immigration enforcement is a federal power — has hovered over the environmental lawsuit and puzzled immigration lawyers attempting to get access to their clients – the subject of another ongoing suit playing out in a courtroom across the hall from Williams' chamber. The government lawyers in both cases have argued that the state's various federal agreements affording law enforcement immigration-enforcement powers give the state the authority to manage the site — though the Florida Division of Emergency Management, tasked with running it, does not have such an agreement. The federal 287(g) program underpinning those agreements initiates a partnership, federal lawyers argued in the environmental case, but it doesn't cede state control of its own facilities to the federal government. The state had full control over planning and executing the facility, and as now it has full control over managing it, state lawyers added. Lawyers for the environmental advocacy groups and the Miccosukee have pointed out that 287(g) agreements authorize local and state law enforcement officers to operate 'under the color of federal authority,' with the supervision of the U.S. Attorney General and Immigration and Customs Enforcement approval. They argue that makes Alligator Alcatraz a federal facility. 'The buck has to stop with ICE,' said Paul Schwiep, a lawyer representing the environmental groups in the case. Williams also questioned federal and state lawyers about what level of harm it would do to close Alligator Alcatraz in particular. She agreed an additional immigration detention center relieves overcrowding at other facilities in Florida, but she pushed for answers on why a new facility had to be built in the midst of Big Cypress National Preserve, asking if the governments involved had considered any other options. The federal and state lawyers said the remoteness of the facility was a factor, but Williams pointed out that other detention centers were within the bounds of cities. 'Why there?' Williams asked.
The Hill
14 minutes ago
- The Hill
Newsom urges Illinois, NY to hurry-up on redistricting
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday urged Illinois and New York to press ahead with redistricting efforts as GOP lawmakers push to pick up five additional House seats in Texas. 'Right now forget the talking, it's not about press. It's time to move. You gotta move. I mean, enough,' Newsom said. 'We're all saying the right thing. Now we gotta do the right thing, which means we gotta fight fire with fire,' he told Beto O'Rouke, a former Texas state representative during the Tuesday episode of the ' This is Gavin Newsom ' podcast. The two discussed also criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R ) for advocating for the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in an effort to block a vote advancing redistricting efforts in the Lone Star State. The Democratic state lawmakers who left are preventing the Texas legislature from having the quorum necessary to pass legislation. Lawmakers in New York and Illinois have launched redistricting efforts in response to Texas. In New York, state Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris (D) and Assembly member Micah Lasher (D) introduced legislation to amend the state's constitution permitting redistricting efforts outside of the traditional cycle. Lawmakers in Illinois are working on a similar measure. On the Tuesday podcast, Newsom also noted that California's elected officials would be moving swiftly to combat Republican efforts with countermeasures later this week. 'Later this week, we're gonna announce the campaign. Next week, the legislature's gonna move this forward,' Newsom said. Newsom has been listed as a potential contender for the White House in 2028 as Democrats prepare to launch a comeback bid after losing the presidential race and the Senate majority last year.
