An Interview With State Attorney General Marty Jackley
By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley talked synthetic drugs, gun control and the period of purple crying while speaking with the Press & Dakotan Wednesday.
Synthetic drugs include K2, bath salts and night lights. They are very dangerous and have led to a number of hospitalizations for abusers in the state, and even have led to the recent deaths of two teenagers who used them in North Dakota.
“Manufacturers take a lot of dangerous chemicals, many of which have never been tested, and mislabel some of them as bath salts,” Jackley said. “They essentially take a bunch of chemicals that give you hallucinations, label them wrong, then sell them for a lot of money.”
Synthetic drugs first began appearing in South Dakota around five years ago. Jackley went to the Legislature to alert them of the problem.
“We decided to make possession of synthetic drugs a misdemeanor in South Dakota at that time,” he said. “We wanted to be proactive about it. We sent a memo to local businesses and said the law will be coming, and 99 percent of the businesses in the state said ‘Oh wow’ and took the drugs off of their shelves.”
More recently, however, a Senate Bill was passed that characterized nine different chemical categories as a felony offense for possession.
“The bad guys kept changing the chemical makeup of the drugs so this year we teamed up with the Department of Health (DOH) and made it a drug analog, which is what the federal government had, as a felony,” Jackley said. “The Legislature was able to give law enforcement the tools they needed so that people can no longer buy synthetics over-the-counter.”
He added that he’s sure some people still buy the synthetic drugs under the table or on the Internet, but he thinks because it is now a felony to possess the drugs, this problem may be subsiding.
“The problem of synthetic drugs is not only a criminal problem, but also a public health problem,” Jackley said. “Use of the drugs can lead to addiction, suicidal tendencies, an accelerated heart rate and kidney failure.”
Also Wednesday, he spoke about Senate Bill 70, which attempts to address public safety concerns in the state and the overcrowding of state prisons.
“The big point of the bill was geared towards non-violent criminals, which make up about half of the state prison population,” Jackley said. “The bill protects lower-level criminals, particularly those with addictions and property crimes, and places a heavy hammer on manufacturing and distribution of drugs.”
A 10-year felony, for example, became a 25-year felony on those individuals stealing more than $500,000.
The bill also addresses chronic alcohol users and DUI offenders.
“This addresses addiction issues, including through 24/7 monitoring, drug and DUI courts, which we’ve had really good success with so far in the state,” he said. “However, prosecutors are still the gate-keeper on whether an individual goes to drug court.”
Jackley touted the success of the Northern Hills drug court. He said possession of drugs used to be an automatic jail sentence, but now taxpayers save money through the drug court program.
“Drug court addresses addiction,” he said. “We want to continue to expand the concept, and not just have there be a revolving door of prosecution and jail.”
The program has led to re-offender rates dropping significantly, he said. Some studies show this rate dropping by more than 50 percent.
“This needs to stay as an offender-pay program, and certain aspects of it won’t work if it’s run by the Department of Corrections (DOC),” Jackley said. “It needs to be run by sheriffs and police. We couldn’t be more happy with the positive results it’s had.”
He added that there will always be situations of offenders trying to cheat the system, but emphasized how much re-offender rates have dropped since the program started.
“The program hasn’t cost taxpayers a dime since its went over to an offender-pay model,” Jackley said. “It’s dealt with addiction crimes and is not a situation where we’ve been easy on crimes.”
One of the other topics Jackley spoke about Wednesday was the issue of gun control this legislative session.
He said at this past winter, all 50 Attorneys General got together in Washington to meet with Vice President Joe Biden, who’s son, Bo, is the attorney general of Delaware.
“This year, Joe Biden came to us to strictly attempt to address gun control,” Jackley said. “He laid out the Obama’s vision for gun control policies.”
Jackley noted that he is a “Second Amendment attorney general,” and has been given a “A” rating by the National Rifle Association (NRA).
“I understand the issue of public safety, but also appreciate the right to bear arms,” Jackley said. “So I’ll be watching very closely to how this all unfolds.”
One of the aspects on the gun control legislation calls for universal background checks on those who try to purchase guns.
“On the surface, universal background checks don’t sound bad,” he said. “But, what does it mean for private sales? What happens with guns that are passed down through a family? Are background checks a wise use of federal resources? These are all questions that need to be answered.”
Biden also called for 30,000 additional police officers. Jackley said he does not know the full details of the proposal, including who would pay for the officers.
However, he said he was able to get an additional DCI agent for the Northern Hills because of the rise of crime experienced there due to the influx of North Dakota oil workers.
“They’ve seen two to three times more crime there, and the number of rapes has gone up in that area from one to 12 this year,” Jackley said. “I was able to justify the need through statistics and showed the benefits of the agent.”
One of the more controversial laws passed by the Legislature this winter was the sentinel bill, which allows districts to have an individual trained to carry a weapon during the school day.
“This is still in the early stages, but I anticipate proposing a two-week training period for those who are school sentinels,” Jackley said. “One week of training will be on firearms, including shooting about 1,600 rounds, which is similar to what law enforcement personnel shoot during their training. The other week will deal with training on the use of force in various situations.”
He added that the Legislature didn’t appropriate money for the training, so it’s up to the district or individual to fund it.
In recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month, Jackley has also been explaining the importance of a new program being introduced across the state.
The Period of Purple Crying is a new way to help parents understand that the emotional and stressful early days during a newborn’s life is a normal part of their development.
“It’s a time frame from about 2 weeks old to 6 months that every child goes through with a period of crying,” Jackley said. “It begins slowly and consistently increases until the crying peaks. It typically lasts about 35-40 minutes and takes place during the evening.”
The project came to fruition through South Dakota medical professionals, but Jackley is involved because he often has to deal with child abuse situations where a parent shakes their child, resulting in death or injury.
“We want to let parents know that this is what will happen and they need to be prepared for it and not act inappropriately when it takes place,” he said. “When a new parent comes in and has a child, before their child is discharged, they’ll get a brochure and watch a 10 minute video about the Period of Purple Crying.”
The goal of the program is to educate parents and to diffuse instances in which parents could overreact and harm their children.
“We will roll out the program even more later on this month,” Jackley said. “We’re hoping to be at the front end and be proactive to help solve this problem.”
You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal
By Andrew Atwal 