Federal judge: South Dakota has done 'little, if anything' to curtail COVID-19 spread [View all]
A federal judge says a state court can’t use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to delay a Codington County trial and in the same breath criticized South Dakota’s response to the pandemic, saying it has done “little, if anything,” to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann ordered that unless the Codington County state court resolves Matthew Kurtenbach’s May 2019 case by January 15, 2021, Kurtenbach will win a federal petition he filed claiming wrongful imprisonment and a violation of his right to a speedy trial.
And in that same adjudication, filed federally in the Northern Division of the District of South Dakota, Kornmann harshly criticized the state and Gov. Kristi Noem’s response to the pandemic and said some state courts could have done more to keep cases moving while protecting parties.
“South Dakota has done little, if anything, to curtail the spread of the virus,” Kornmann wrote in the Dec. 28 decision.
Read more: https://www.aberdeennews.com/courtnews/federal-judge-south-dakota-has-done-little-if-anything-to-curtail-covid-19-spread/article_f554cd40-4bba-11eb-a1a0-3bb30583cea2.html
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