Is symbolic justice coming for Joseph Boever, the man South Dakota Attorney General hit and killed in a moment of distracted driving a year ago this coming Sunday?
At the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Joe Sneve reports in South Dakota House leaders call for special session to consider impeachment of Attorney General Ravnsborg:
A bi-partisan group of leadership members in the South Dakota House of Representatives are calling for a special legislative session to consider whether to pursue impeachment of the state's attorney general.
House Majority Leader Kent Peterson, R-Salem, in a news release Thursday announced he is formally requesting lawmakers return to the capital in November to "evaluate the matter of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg," convicted of a pair of misdemeanor traffic charges last month stemming from his role in a vehicle crash that killed a pedestrian a year earlier.
"Before we concluded the session in March, the House of Representatives voted on a resolution that stated we may evaluate the matter pertaining to the Attorney General when the judicial process was completed," Peterson said. "Since that process has finished, I am asking that the legislature convene to start the formal process of investigating the matter surrounding Attorney General Ravnsborg."
Ravnsborg struck and killed Joe Boever while he was driving from a political event the night of Sept. 12, 2020, and was convicted of a misdemeanor traffic charges relating to the crash on Aug. 26.
Despite calls for his resignation from various law enforcement groups, Gov. Kristi Noem and several lawmakers, Ravnsborg remains in office as the state's top law enforcement officer and prosecutor. Following the resolution of the criminal charges he'd faced, he said he would continue to serve and had no intention of relinquishing the attorney general position.
At Keloland, Bob Mercer has more in House leader calls for special session to consider impeaching Attorney General Ravnsborg:
House Republican leader Kent Peterson said Thursday he wants the South Dakota Legislature to call itself into special session to consider whether to impeach state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.
The House considered a resolution in the regular session that was deferred by House Speaker Spencer Gosch because Ravnsborg was still facing three second-class misdemeanor charges for a September 12 crash at the west edge of Highmore. That night, the car Ravnsborg was driving struck and killed pedestrian Joe Boever, who was walking on the north shoulder of US 14.
Ravnsborg, a Republican, pleaded no-contest last month to improper lane change and using an electronic device while driving. Retired Circuit Judge John Brown sentenced Ravnsborg to the maximum fine of $500 on each charge. A third misdemeanor for careless driving was dropped as part of a deal.
Peterson’s Thursday announcement came on Gosch’s letterhead. The Legislature needs two-thirds of its senators and two-thirds of its representatives to sign a petition for a special session. . .
View document or read text of the letter at the links, courtesy of Kelo. Mercer continues:
Gosch received the investigation file from Governor Kristi Noem after Ravnsborg’s pleas. The Republican governor has repeatedly called for Ravnsborg’s resignation and said he should be impeached if he doesn’t step down. . . .
Read the rest at Keloland. At Dakota Free Press, Cory Allen Heidelberger observes in House Majority Leader Peterson Wants to Consider Impeaching Ravnsborg November 9
. . .November 9 is the day after the scheduled November 8 Special Session called for redistricting. If the House does convene that Tuesday and impeach the Attorney General, South Dakota Constitution Article 16 Section 5 immediately suspends the Attorney General from his office. Article 16 Section 7 requires the Senate to wait at least 20 days before trying the Attorney General. The Senate would thus have to call itself back into another Special Session on November 29 at the earliest. If the House votes to impeach Ravnsborg within a week of its convening, the Senate could save itself a little travel and hold a Special Session trial in conjunction with the planned December 7 budget address from the Governor.
If Peterson, Gosch, and their associates are planning to consider impeachment in November, that’s all the more reason for Speaker Gosch and other legislators who have received the Ravnsborg investigation file to release that file to the public now, so the public may review the same information legislators have and weigh whether they want their legislators to revoke the public’s 2018 vote and remove their elected Attorney General from office.
We suspect our neighbors would welcome the ability to read the files; across the political spectrum, they feel that if they had struck and killed someone walking on the side of the road, they'd be in prison by now. It's nonpartisan.
Related posts:
- A Friday of headlines in the life of South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg
- Top South Dakota lawman: Joe Boever's killer Ravnsborg gets 7th speeding ticket since 2014
- Is anyone pleased with SD AG Jason Ravnsborg plea deal other than Team Ravnsborg?
- Remember Joe Boever: AP reports South Dakota AG Ravnsborg objects to cameras at his trial
- Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Army Reserve blocks Ravnsborg promotion due to Boever death
- Boever death: Ravnsborg didn't see face coming through glass, flashlight like beacon in grass
- Ravnsborg's lawyer enters not guilty plea; South Dakota Attorney General not present in court
- Joe Boever was killed, but Ravnsborg's attorney claims client suffering is the worst thing ever
- Justice for Joe Boever: Governor Noem calls for AG Ravnsborg's resignation; articles of impeachment filed in South Dakota House
- Attorney General Ravnsborg charged with 3 misdemeanors in crash that killed Joe Boever
- Twitter memorials: 5 months ago, South Dakota Attorney General Ravnsborg killed Joe Boever
- Daily Beast: Ravnsborg killed a man. Family members fear Joe Boever has been forgotten
- Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Noem supports using grand jury to speed up Ravnsborg killing probe
- States attorneys looking into killing of Joseph Boever by AG Ravnsborg not talking to Noem
- Rapid City Journal: After 4 months, still no decision on whether AG Ravnsborg will be charged for killing Joseph Boever
- AP: Prosecutors waiting on debris testing in SD Attorney General killing of Joseph Boever
- Governor Kristi Noem takes off her positive pants, given pace of Ravnsborg investigation
- Well, that's illuminating: South Dakota Highway Patrol’s accident report on Boever killing
- South Dakota News Watch: Crash experts question Ravnsborg’s car-deer explanation
- SD News Watch: State's criminal & civil traffic laws favor drivers over pedestrians in collisions
- UPDATED: Joe Boever's tragic death on Hwy 14: news digest about Ravnsborg's fatal accident
Photo: Ravnsborg's Taurus, via Rapid City Journal. From the New York Times' transcription:"“We know that his face came through your windshield,” one investigator said. The vehicle also had an imprint from at least part of the man’s body on the hood, an investigator said, adding that “at some point he rolls off and slides into the ditch.”
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