As the 2023 South Dakota Legislative Session starts today, all eyes and ears will once again be on Pierre.
The ACLU of South Dakota will be monitoring a wide variety of bills and working to defend and protect the civil liberties of all South Dakotans. The ACLU’s educational, organizing and lobbying efforts will be focused primarily on abortion access and reproductive freedom, defending free speech and opposing classroom censorship, and LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit equality.
“Decisions made during the annual sessions of the South Dakota Legislature have a deep and lasting impact on our state’s people and communities,” said Samantha Chapman, ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager. “As new laws are created and others repealed or written, it’s important to ensure that these changes preserve and strengthen our constitutional rights. The stakes are high for legislative action in 2023, and we must defend and protect the civil liberties of all South Dakotans.”
The ACLU of South Dakota has also created legislative advocacy resources for people to learn more about the legislative process and how they can best influence elected officials on the issues they care about most.
About the ACLU of South Dakota
The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of South Dakota is part of a three-state chapter that also includes North Dakota and Wyoming. The team in South Dakota is supported by staff in those states.
The ACLU believes freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people. In addition, the ACLU seeks to advance constitutional protections for groups traditionally denied their rights, including people of color, women, and the LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit communities. The ACLU of South Dakota carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local level, and through public education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights means for the people of South Dakota.
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