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A jury has convicted Rep. Bill Janklow, R-S.D., of manslaughter and three lesser charges in the death of Hardwick, Minn., resident Randy Scott. Janklow ran a stop sign and collided with Scott, killing the motorcyclist instantly, Aug. 16. A jury took five hours to determine his guilt.
Here's the kicker: The jury was composed of men and women from Janklow's hometown, Flandreau.
Hardly anyone in the state thought Janklow — a political giant in the state and Washington, D.C. — would be convicted of manslaughter, but he was. Janklow has since announced he will be resigning his seat in the U.S. House on Jan. 20, the same day he will be sentenced. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
In the meantime, the state is effectively without representation in the U.S. House, as it had only a single representative based on its population. A special election is planned June 1 (in conjunction with the primaries) to fill the spot.
There are national political ramifications to this historic day in South Dakota. With Janklow's political career utterly destroyed, the U.S. House seat in the state is wide-open. It's expected that former Rep. John Thune, R-S.D., will now be forced to seek that seat instead of running against incumbent Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who's also the Senate Minority Leader in Washington, D.C.
IOW, the GOP may have just lost the chance at gaining a Senate seat from South Dakota, and the House seat is no guarantee either, as Stephanie Herseth, a Democrat, is seeking it as well, and isn't exactly unpopular. Aside from Thune, there was no strong potential GOP candidate to run against Daschle, who's popular on his own merits in South Dakota.
But the overall point is this: Justice was served in South Dakota on Monday, and the politically powerful do not always escape their just reward.
Gatekeeper
A jury has convicted Rep. Bill Janklow, R-S.D., of manslaughter and three lesser charges in the death of Hardwick, Minn., resident Randy Scott. Janklow ran a stop sign and collided with Scott, killing the motorcyclist instantly, Aug. 16. A jury took five hours to determine his guilt.
Here's the kicker: The jury was composed of men and women from Janklow's hometown, Flandreau.
Hardly anyone in the state thought Janklow — a political giant in the state and Washington, D.C. — would be convicted of manslaughter, but he was. Janklow has since announced he will be resigning his seat in the U.S. House on Jan. 20, the same day he will be sentenced. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
In the meantime, the state is effectively without representation in the U.S. House, as it had only a single representative based on its population. A special election is planned June 1 (in conjunction with the primaries) to fill the spot.
There are national political ramifications to this historic day in South Dakota. With Janklow's political career utterly destroyed, the U.S. House seat in the state is wide-open. It's expected that former Rep. John Thune, R-S.D., will now be forced to seek that seat instead of running against incumbent Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who's also the Senate Minority Leader in Washington, D.C.
IOW, the GOP may have just lost the chance at gaining a Senate seat from South Dakota, and the House seat is no guarantee either, as Stephanie Herseth, a Democrat, is seeking it as well, and isn't exactly unpopular. Aside from Thune, there was no strong potential GOP candidate to run against Daschle, who's popular on his own merits in South Dakota.
But the overall point is this: Justice was served in South Dakota on Monday, and the politically powerful do not always escape their just reward.
Gatekeeper
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