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48 S.D. L. Rev. 171 (2003)
South Dakota Criminal Justice: A Study of Racial Disparities

handle is hein.journals/sdlr48 and id is 181 raw text is: A STUDY OF RACIAL DISPARITIES SOUTH DAKOTA CRIMINAL JUSTICE: A STUDY OF RACIAL DISPARITIES' RICHARD BRAUNSTEIN & STEVE FEIMER This research analyzed data from the State of South Dakota's judicial, investigations, and corrections departments. Preliminary findings from the analysis suggest disparities in a number of areas, but offer no explanations of why these disparities exist because of limitations in the dataset analyzed. However, the analysis of race disparities in the state 's criminal justice system identified concerns for equal treatment of American Indians in areas of legal representation, case dispositions, sentence length, and prison time served. The research also observed an encouraging reduction in race disparities in the area of parole determinations after a 1996 legislative reform of the parole system. Finally, the research addresses the need for additional research on regional disparities within the state, the impact of federal jurisdiction on state-level criminal justice, and more detailed demographic data to allow a more reliable evaluation of the explanations for disparities observed. OVERVIEW In March of 2000, The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights published a report on the treatment of American Indians in the South Dakota criminal justice system.2 The report, based largely on anecdotal evidence provided at a public hearing, criticized South Dakota for maintaining a dual system of justice where race is a critical factor in determining how law enforcement and justice functions are carried out. In response to the report, the Governor of South Dakota contracted the authors to examine whether the Commission's findings were supported by empirical data from the state's judicial, investigations, and 1. The authors wish to acknowledge the support given to this research by the South Dakota Governor's Office. That support came in the form of both financial assistance for the research and also through offering unfettered access to records and consultation. The authors also wish to recognize the contribution of several research assistants to this project. Those individuals, in alphabetical order, include Rachel Anderson, Janet Benton, Billie Kingfisher, Larry Kruger and Mike Teideman. They also wish to acknowledge the considerable support given to the project administrators at the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigations, Unified Judicial System and Department of Corrections. We would also like to acknowledge the technical assistance received from Larry Kuzmal at BIT, the SPSS Technical Support Team and Doug Goodman of the Computer Science Department at the University of South Dakota who developed the means to create a sophisticated sentence length variable that was essential to this research. Finally, the authors owe a debt of gratitude to both William Richardson, Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of South Dakota, and Ken Meier from Texas A&M University, who offered sound advice and moral support at several stages of this research. 2. Native Americans in South Dakota: An Erosion of Confidence in the Justice System, S.D. ADVISORY COMM. TO THE U.S. COMM'N ON CIVIL RIGHTS, March 2000, at http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/sdsac/chl .htm. 20031

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