Dakota Rural Action v. Noem

–

A month after a federal court in South Dakota blocked the State from enforcing provisions of a riot boosting statute, the State and plaintiffs reached a settlement pursuant to which the State agreed not to enforce the provisions that the court temporarily enjoined. The plaintiffs had alleged that the statute had been passed in anticipation of possible protests by environmental activists along the route of the Keystone XL pipeline.

The federal district court for the District of South Dakota temporarily enjoined enforcement of provisions of a riot boosting statute enacted in South Dakota in 2019 in response to anticipated protests of the Keystone XL pipeline. The court also temporarily enjoined two felony riot statutes because they went “far beyond” the State’s “appropriate interest” in criminalizing participation in a riot with acts of force or violence. The court said the laws’ provision for criminal or tort liability for advising, encouraging, or soliciting persons participating in a riot to acts of force or violence was overbroad and vague.