sunhuntin
9th February 2006, 15:53
Scene of the Crime
More outrage in the continuing saga of Bill Janklow
by Bill Wood
Being convicted of a felony in the United States can prevent you from doing a lot of things.
You can’t, for instance, run for elected office, nor, in most states, vote in an election. You probably can’t own a firearm, enlist in the military or become a policeman. You can’t serve on a jury, and you’d be turned down flat if you applied for many jobs.
One thing you can do, though—at least, if you happen to be former Congressman Bill Janklow of South Dakota—is practice law.
A few weeks ago, the South Dakota Supreme Court decided that Janklow, who was convicted of felony manslaughter in the death of motorcyclist Randy Scott in August 2003, could get his law license back as of February 15, just about the time you receive this magazine.
Once again, Bill Janklow will be a member in full standing of South Dakota’s legal community.
This is, to refresh your memory, the same Bill Janklow who held down the accelerator on a Cadillac and barreled through a stop sign at a speed police estimated at 70 mph, right into the path of Scott’s motorcycle, causing the crash that ended Scott’s life.
It’s the same man who, reports indicated, racked up a dozen speeding tickets in four years before he was elected to the first of four terms as governor. Then the tickets stopped, but the speeding didn’t.
Reporters traveling with him noted he drove at speeds of up to 99 mph in heavy smoke coming down a mountain road after inspecting efforts to fight a forest fire. Weeks before the fatal crash, the Nebraska Highway Patrol stopped Janklow for speeding and let him off with a warning. He even joked about his speeding in speeches.
And it wasn’t just speeding. Janklow was allegedly involved in seven crashes over 11 years, many of which, police indicated, were his fault. And witnesses said that a car matching the description of Janklow’s vehicle nearly rammed their truck at high speed after running the very same stop sign nine months before the fatal crash. The result could have been multiple deaths. The near-victims reported the incident and said they were told by police that the car that almost hit them had been tracked down, and the driver was identified as Janklow.
Take all of that together, and what happened in August 2003 still looks like a tragic crash, but it looks a lot less like an accident.
A South Dakota jury considered some of that, along with the facts of the crash that killed Scott, when convicting their own congressman of felony manslaughter, the most serious charge he faced.
As a result of that conviction, Janklow had to resign his seat in Congress, pay $11,000 in fines and fees and serve a 100-day jail sentence. He is still on probation for the crime. But through a legal maneuver, he avoided any financial responsibility for the fatal accident he caused.
Janklow claimed that because he had made an appearance at a picnic earlier in the day, he was acting in an official capacity when he killed Scott. And that meant Scott’s family could not sue him for damages, even though he was on the road connecting his home and his mother’s house when the crash took place.
And now, thanks to a successful appeal to the state Supreme Court, Bill Janklow can go back to practicing law…almost as if nothing ever happened.
A jury ruled that a serious crime was committed on that rural South Dakota road in August 2003, when Janklow’s car sped through that stop sign and took Randy Scott’s life.
It sounds to me as though a second crime was committed in the South Dakota Supreme Court this January when that convicted felon was handed his law license back.
Here’s what newspapers in South Dakota reported that Janklow said to the justices who restored his license: “Every day I understand that somebody died in a traffic accident. I don’t think that affects my ability to be a lawyer.
“I can just tell you that I’m sorry for what happened, and I think people understand that. On the other hand, I’ve enjoyed being a lawyer. I like practicing law.”
Yeah. Just like Randy Scott enjoyed riding his motorcycle.
Bill Wood is director of communications for the AMA.
The AMA has started the Justice for All campaign to pass laws that would increase possible penalties for those who injure or kill vulnerable road users, including motorcyclists. For more information on this campaign, go to www.AMADirectlink.com/justice.
© 2006, American Motorcyclist Association
....................
THE STRANGE CASE OF WILD BILL JANKLOW
By Ward Churchill
"Covert Action" Summer 1985
"...joining the marine corps, he learned the tricks of his trade, to walk around quietly, and carry a hand grenade, so all you tourists who are south dakota bound, remember wild bill janklow just might turn you right around."--Jim Page 1979
William "Wild Bill" Janklow is the current governor of South Dakota. In 1955, at the age of 16, he was convicted of the sexual assault of a 17-year old woman. As a juvenile offense, this conviction carried little weight under U.S. law.
However, in 1966, while working as the tribal attorney for the Rosebud Sioux, Janklow--aged 27--was accused of raping his children's 15-year-old babysitter, Jancita Eagle Deer. Adult sexual offenses being more grave than this earlier recorded exploit, Janklow used his capacity as head of reservation legal services to stave off the (illegible) of formal, federal charges. He then resigned his position and left tribal jurisdiction.
To read more: http://www.dlncoalition.org/dln_issues/strangecaseofjanklow.htm
......................
ive been following this since it happened, via an american msn group....shocking what people of power can get away with over there!
More outrage in the continuing saga of Bill Janklow
by Bill Wood
Being convicted of a felony in the United States can prevent you from doing a lot of things.
You can’t, for instance, run for elected office, nor, in most states, vote in an election. You probably can’t own a firearm, enlist in the military or become a policeman. You can’t serve on a jury, and you’d be turned down flat if you applied for many jobs.
One thing you can do, though—at least, if you happen to be former Congressman Bill Janklow of South Dakota—is practice law.
A few weeks ago, the South Dakota Supreme Court decided that Janklow, who was convicted of felony manslaughter in the death of motorcyclist Randy Scott in August 2003, could get his law license back as of February 15, just about the time you receive this magazine.
Once again, Bill Janklow will be a member in full standing of South Dakota’s legal community.
This is, to refresh your memory, the same Bill Janklow who held down the accelerator on a Cadillac and barreled through a stop sign at a speed police estimated at 70 mph, right into the path of Scott’s motorcycle, causing the crash that ended Scott’s life.
It’s the same man who, reports indicated, racked up a dozen speeding tickets in four years before he was elected to the first of four terms as governor. Then the tickets stopped, but the speeding didn’t.
Reporters traveling with him noted he drove at speeds of up to 99 mph in heavy smoke coming down a mountain road after inspecting efforts to fight a forest fire. Weeks before the fatal crash, the Nebraska Highway Patrol stopped Janklow for speeding and let him off with a warning. He even joked about his speeding in speeches.
And it wasn’t just speeding. Janklow was allegedly involved in seven crashes over 11 years, many of which, police indicated, were his fault. And witnesses said that a car matching the description of Janklow’s vehicle nearly rammed their truck at high speed after running the very same stop sign nine months before the fatal crash. The result could have been multiple deaths. The near-victims reported the incident and said they were told by police that the car that almost hit them had been tracked down, and the driver was identified as Janklow.
Take all of that together, and what happened in August 2003 still looks like a tragic crash, but it looks a lot less like an accident.
A South Dakota jury considered some of that, along with the facts of the crash that killed Scott, when convicting their own congressman of felony manslaughter, the most serious charge he faced.
As a result of that conviction, Janklow had to resign his seat in Congress, pay $11,000 in fines and fees and serve a 100-day jail sentence. He is still on probation for the crime. But through a legal maneuver, he avoided any financial responsibility for the fatal accident he caused.
Janklow claimed that because he had made an appearance at a picnic earlier in the day, he was acting in an official capacity when he killed Scott. And that meant Scott’s family could not sue him for damages, even though he was on the road connecting his home and his mother’s house when the crash took place.
And now, thanks to a successful appeal to the state Supreme Court, Bill Janklow can go back to practicing law…almost as if nothing ever happened.
A jury ruled that a serious crime was committed on that rural South Dakota road in August 2003, when Janklow’s car sped through that stop sign and took Randy Scott’s life.
It sounds to me as though a second crime was committed in the South Dakota Supreme Court this January when that convicted felon was handed his law license back.
Here’s what newspapers in South Dakota reported that Janklow said to the justices who restored his license: “Every day I understand that somebody died in a traffic accident. I don’t think that affects my ability to be a lawyer.
“I can just tell you that I’m sorry for what happened, and I think people understand that. On the other hand, I’ve enjoyed being a lawyer. I like practicing law.”
Yeah. Just like Randy Scott enjoyed riding his motorcycle.
Bill Wood is director of communications for the AMA.
The AMA has started the Justice for All campaign to pass laws that would increase possible penalties for those who injure or kill vulnerable road users, including motorcyclists. For more information on this campaign, go to www.AMADirectlink.com/justice.
© 2006, American Motorcyclist Association
....................
THE STRANGE CASE OF WILD BILL JANKLOW
By Ward Churchill
"Covert Action" Summer 1985
"...joining the marine corps, he learned the tricks of his trade, to walk around quietly, and carry a hand grenade, so all you tourists who are south dakota bound, remember wild bill janklow just might turn you right around."--Jim Page 1979
William "Wild Bill" Janklow is the current governor of South Dakota. In 1955, at the age of 16, he was convicted of the sexual assault of a 17-year old woman. As a juvenile offense, this conviction carried little weight under U.S. law.
However, in 1966, while working as the tribal attorney for the Rosebud Sioux, Janklow--aged 27--was accused of raping his children's 15-year-old babysitter, Jancita Eagle Deer. Adult sexual offenses being more grave than this earlier recorded exploit, Janklow used his capacity as head of reservation legal services to stave off the (illegible) of formal, federal charges. He then resigned his position and left tribal jurisdiction.
To read more: http://www.dlncoalition.org/dln_issues/strangecaseofjanklow.htm
......................
ive been following this since it happened, via an american msn group....shocking what people of power can get away with over there!