Jancita Eagle Deer

Revenge Served Cold

Even if revenge is a dish best served cold, then Jancita Eagle Deer's was long overdue. But she got it, as much as she's ever likely to get, when a jury of his peers convicted Wild Bill Janklow of manslaughter for running down a white man improbably named Randolph Scott (in fact, after the movie star). Everybody, it seems, knows that story. The "defense" that he is a diabetic and hadn't eaten for eighteen hours, for example. As the jury said, if you are an intelligent, educated diabetic and you don't eat for eighteen hours, you are responsible for the result, especially if you are so negligent as to drive a car in that condition. Case closed. He was, after all, a white man.

The case of Jancita Eagle Deer will never be closed, though. She was just an Indian, a fifteen-year-old girl whose white guardian raped her at gunpoint in 1966. The Indian family and friends who took her for medical treatment and provided what support they could urged her to file charges, but they also knew, as they told people later, "A white man raping an Indian girl is not news." Her mother Delphine attempted to get charges filed; Delphine was beaten to death and found in a field.

Jancita did, finally, file charges, encouraged by Dennis Banks and the leaders of AIM. A few months later, she too was dead. She had been beaten and, the autopsy suggested, thrown from a moving car. Staggering in the road, she was hit by another car and killed. The 1966 guardian's name was William Janklow, and he parleyed the rape charge into a successful bid for the attorney general's job in Mitchell. Such is the state of racism in South Dakota.

Whether Janklow raped Jancita Eagle Deer can't be proven, but the circumstantial evidence is strong. She "named him as her assailant," according to Dr. Kent Bergh, who was a physician at Rosebud and reviewed the medical records of her medical examination. (The affidavit filed by Dr. Bergh can be seen at Ishgooda.ORG, linked to a thorough discussion of the story.) She bore medical evidence of rape, and she had no reason to identify her white "benefactor" falsely in 1966, whatever her motives for reviving the claim in 1974.

As for South Dakota Assistant Attorney General Janklow, he was a few weeks from the election, running against the incumbent, who had just dropped the intended bombshell that Janklow had been accused of raping a teenaged white girl in 1955, when he was sixteen.

Janklow: "It wasn't rape; just the preliminaries."

Because he was a juvenile at the time of the case, the records were sealed, but Janklow's denial of the charge is interesting: It wasn't rape, he explained; "just the preliminaries to that sort of thing." This, along with his public suggestion that the solution to "the AIM problem" was "to put a gun to the leaders' heads and pull the trigger," swept him into the Attorney General's office, and he became the person responsible for enforcing law and ensuring justice in South Dakota. Such is the state of racism in South Dakota.

Eagle Deer waited eight years to file a formal complaint against Janklow. She actually disappeared from the reservation, unable to endure the social aftermath of the rape. There was no official interest in pressing charges. When the other rape rumor surfaced, Dennis Banks, the leader of AIM and a target for both Janklow and the FBI, found out about Eagle Deer and someone tracked her down. Banks and her stepmother, Delphine Eagle Deer, the sister of AIM spiritual leader Leonard Crow Dog, urged Jancita to come forward. Banks' motives may have been political, but there is no evidence that the charge was trumped up, and considerable evidence that it wasn't.

Federal and state authorities still refused to deal with the problem, but Rosebud Tribal Court Justice Mario Gonzalez ordered Janklow to appear in Rosebud Tribal Court for a disbarment hearing. This was similar to the Federal government intervening in murder cases in the South because the victim's "civil rights" had been violated. A disbarment proceeding against Janklow was the only punishment the Indian courts could make stick on a white man. The only penalty they could impose on a white man for raping an Indian girl was forbidding him to practice law on the reservation.

Janklow refused to appear, and Gonzalez issued a warrant for his arrest, charging him with assault and "carnal knowledge of a child." The warrant was issued three days after he was elected Attorney General. Two weeks later, Jancita Eagle Deer was dead.

Janklow had been arrested for a DUI on Crow Creek Reservation in February of 1973 (affidavit posted at Ishgooda.ORG). According to the arresting officer, Janklow was extremely drunk and naked below the waist.

Given Janklow's vigilante attitudes toward Indians and the risk Jancita Eagle Deer threatened, it is not idle to speculate whether he killed her or had her killed. Her death was one of dozens that occurred in the half-decade leading up the FBI confrontation at Wounded Knee.

Numerous web sites list the casualties of that period.

Jancita Eagle Deer was no crusading activist. Like Anna Mae Aquash, she was last seen in the company of an FBI informant. Unlike Aquash, who was also murdered, either by the FBI or by her own AIM comrades after the FBI convinced them that she was an FBI informant (she wasn't, but this was a standard FBI approach to getting rid of people they were unfortunately unable to prove anything against), Jancita was just a girl who got in the way of one of the more celebrated of South Dakota's racist immigrants, a white man destined for a stellar career representing the people of South Dakota. The white ones. A man with chits he could call in if he needed the help of his FBI friends.

Here is a thorough presentation of the events described above. In the death of Randolph Scott, Janklow was found guilty and sentenced to 100 days, time to be served in a county jail, and with permission to wander around outside after 30 days served.

While he was in jail, the Republican National Committee handed him $900,000 to tide him over during his hard times. When his "punishment" was finished, he filed with the South Dakota Supreme Court to have his record expunged (after all, felons can't vote or hold office, even in South Dakota). The court was unable to find an excuse to accommodate him. Today, as far as I know, he is a free man. And Jancita Eagle Deer is still dead.

If only Randy Scott had been an Indian; it all could have blown over. Such is the state of racism in South Dakota.

Wake up Amerikkka, what you see is what you get=

REMEMBER JANCITA
NO MORE COVER-UPS

Before Kill and Run, Was There Rape and Run? Documents Show the FBI Gave Janklow a Pass, Stephen Hendricks at Counterpunch, Dec 16-31, 2003.
Janklow's resignation letter of January 12, 2004 - Page 1 - Page 2
DLN Moody County Janklow Protest, 26 Sept 2003
PROTEST AT JANKKKLOW's FIRST COURT APPEARANCE, 2 SEPT 2003
SPIRITUAL GATHERING OF THE OYATE AND ANTI JANKKKLOW RALLY, FLANDREAU, SD, 27 AUGUST 2003
Congressman "Wild Bill" Janklow: The Grand Hypocrisy Party (GHP) Role Model of the Week Buzzflash, 21 Aug 2003
Killer on the Road: Who Killed Jancita Eagle Deer Counterpunch

Credit: unknown photographer

Janklow had his first court appearance, a merely procedural hearing to set the plea hearing date. The sign above came from the sole protester at the court house. Most of those present were supportive. -- David Harris -- Demand for Investigation of Rape and Murder of Jancita Eagle Deer

Articles on the Janklow Crash

Trial Coverage

Text of Janklow's Letter of Resignation

Associated Press

The text of a letter of resignation from Rep. Bill Janklow to House Speaker Dennis Hastert:

"I wish to inform you that because of present circumstances, I will be unable to perform the duties incumbent on me in representing the people of South Dakota as their U.S. representative.

Therefore I wish to inform you that I will resign from the House of Representatives effective Jan. 20, 2004.

Please let me know if there are any further formalities which I must perform or accomplish to effectuate this resignation.

Representing the people of South Dakota in all the capacities that I have over the years has brought a treasure of memories and friends. This includes the year I have spent in the U.S. House.

Thank you for all the courtesies you have extended to me and the people of South Dakota."

Congressman Convicted of Manslaughter

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Janklow-Trial.html?hp
Filed at 9:36 p.m. ET

FLANDREAU, S.D. (AP) -- Rep. Bill Janklow, a dominating figure in South Dakota politics for nearly 30 years, was convicted of manslaughter Monday for speeding through a stop sign at a rural intersection and colliding with a motorcyclist. Janklow quickly announced that he will resign from Congress.

``I wish to inform you that because of present circumstances, I will be unable to perform the duties incumbent on me in representing the people of South Dakota as their U.S. representative,'' the Republican wrote in a letter that he said was to be sent to House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Tuesday.

``Therefore I wish to inform you that I will resign from the House of Representatives, effective January 20, 2004.''

That is the same date Janklow is scheduled to be sentenced. He could get up to 10 years in prison.

Earlier Monday, a jury in the congressman's boyhood hometown convicted Janklow of second-degree manslaughter, reckless driving, running a stop sign and speeding for the Aug. 16 crash that killed Randy Scott, 55, a farmer from Hardwick, Minn. Prosecutors said Janklow was traveling more than 70 mph in a white Cadillac when he crashed with Scott's Harley-Davidson.

``The state of South Dakota brought charges against a man we believed to be responsible for Randy's death,'' the victim's mother, Marcella Scott, said in a statement. ``We are satisfied that the correct verdict was reached.''

Janklow, 64, appeared stunned as the verdict was read. He walked steadily out of the courtroom, got in a vehicle driven by his son and left the courthouse. He refused to respond to questions shouted by a horde of reporters.

Jurors also left the courthouse without talking to reporters, and both prosecutor Bill Ellingson and defense attorney Ed Evans refused comment.

The resignation all but ends the political career of a man who has wielded enormous power in South Dakota for nearly 30 years.

Janklow was the state attorney general for four years in the 1970s before serving 16 years as governor and being elected to the state's lone House seat last year. During his four terms as governor, Janklow won over legions of voters in heavily conservative South Dakota with his tough-talking, maverick style.

A special election will be held during South Dakota's June 1 primary to fill the remainder of Janklow's term, giving Democrats an early chance to pick up a seat in the narrowly divided House. Janklow would have been up for re-election next November.

Democrat Stephanie Herseth, who lost to Janklow in 2002, has said she intends to run for the House again. Republican John Thune, who formerly held the seat, has not indicated whether he will run for anything in 2004. He has been mentioned as a possible challenger to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, but some Republicans want Thune to run for the House instead because they believe he stands a better chance against Herseth.

Janklow's trial created a scenario that once would have seemed unthinkable in this rural state: a congressman on trial for manslaughter in the farming community where he grew up.

The trial began Dec. 1 with a jury-selection process that revealed Janklow's widespread popularity in Flandreau, a town of about 2,000 people. Several jury candidates knew Janklow and his family, including one who shook hands with the former governor as he left the courtroom.

Once a panel was chosen, jurors witnessed several emotional images during five days of testimony, including Janklow in tears as he described his grief over the crash. A man who was riding motorcycles with Scott cried as he recalled finding the victim's mangled body in a soybean field. Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, himself a pillar of South Dakota politics, also took the stand.

The defense argued that Janklow, a diabetic, was suffering the effects of low blood sugar at the time of the crash because he had not eaten for 18 hours. Medical experts told prosecutors it is unusual for anyone to go that long without food -- and highly dangerous for a diabetic who takes insulin.

But deputy prosecutor Roger Ellyson called the diabetes defense ``goofy,'' saying Janklow concocted the defense as an excuse for his reckless driving.

Ellyson called Janklow an ``unbelievably awful and menacing'' driver.

``The defendant's driving is like a deadly game of Russian roulette,'' Ellyson said in closing arguments. ``On August 16, Randy Scott took the bullet.''

``He couldn't say, 'I was driving so fast I couldn't stop.' Or he couldn't say, 'I always ignore these rural stop signs.' That would be admitting to manslaughter. He knows the trouble he's in,'' Ellyson said.

The defense said that Janklow took heart medication on the day of the crash that can mask the symptoms of a diabetic reaction. That is why Janklow did not feel his blood sugar drop before the accident, the defense contended.

Several witnesses said they did not see Janklow eat or drink anything that day, including Daschle, who called the congressman ``a very truthful person.''

Janklow has long been an unapologetic speeder, as witnessed during a 1999 speech to the Legislature.

``Bill Janklow speeds when he drives -- shouldn't, but he does,'' Janklow said then. ``When he gets the ticket he pays it, but if someone told me I was going to jail for two days for speeding, my driving habits would change.''

In one notorious instance, two reporters were riding with Janklow when he made a 99-mph mad dash, through heavy smoke, down a mountain highway in the Black Hills to escape a raging forest fire in 2002. Janklow had tried to go faster, but the computer in his sport utility vehicle kept the engine from going past 99 mph.

Janklow received 12 speeding tickets from 1990 to October 1994. He was elected to a third term as governor a month later and never received another ticket in the state.

The jury was not allowed to hear about the tickets, but the prosecution was granted permission to present evidence of a close call at the same intersection where Scott died.

Janklow also said he has wished ``a thousand times'' that he would have eaten on Aug. 16. He told the prosecutor he does speed when he drives and he has run stop signs but that he would not speed through a blind intersection on purpose.

No satisfaction in Janklow’s conviction A man is still dead at his hands, a column by Hazel Bonner
Argus leader Janklow trial coverage
Rapid City Journal Janklow trial coverage

Of Special Interest

Affidavit regarding Janklow's Feb 1973 arrest for drunken driving, disorderly conduct, assaulting an officer, and indecent exposure. The text of the below images of the affidavit may be difficult to make out. If a problem is had reading. A transcription has been prepared and links to beside the image are given.

Page 1 of Affidavit regarding Janklow's Feb 1973 arrest for drunken driving >> Image : Text
Page 2 of Affidavit regarding Janklow's Feb 1973 arrest for drunken driving >> Image : Text

General Issues

DASCHLE PLANS RECONCILIATION CONFERENCE
NOTE: Greetings, This would be a opportune time to Protest. Plus, even before thought of reconciliation, The World will need to hold William Janklow accountable for the Rape and eventually murder of Jancita Eagle Deer of the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation. This is also a time to bring to the fore front all the Human Rights Violations committed by the White Racist Republikans and their Democrat aggressive White Supremacy People here in South Dakota. We need to organize a massive demonstration on that day
Alfred
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Sen. Tom Daschle has announced plans to host a one-day reconciliation conference this summer at Pierre Indian Learning Center.
The conference, "A Day of Reconciliation--A Gathering and Healing of Nations," is being billed as a chance to bring together the South Dakota Congressional delegation, the Great Sioux Nation, the State of South Dakota and South Dakota residents, both American Indians and non-Indians, in the spirit of reconciliation.
No date has been set for the event, which will be open to the public, but a Daschle spokesman said it would likely be held in June or July.
"Far too often, there is a deep-seated misunderstanding and mistrust between Indian and non-Indian people in South Dakota," Daschle said in a news release. "This situation has evolved over the past century and has created a political and cultural divide within the state.
"We can and must do better, and that is why I am sponsoring a one-day reconciliation conference at which Indians and non-Indians can come together to confront the issues that divide us," Daschle said. (Feb.8,2003)
New South Dakota Governor Promises to Revive “Reconciliation Lakota Journal editorial by Tim Giago (17-24 Jan 2003)
Michale LaPointe appointed by Gov. Rounds to replace Richard "Dick" Hagen (offsite link)
NEWLY APPOINTED STATE SENATOR CO-SPONSORS BILL OPPOSED BY OTHER INDIANS Lakota Journal (Feb 2003)
PIERRE - Recent legislation introduced in the South Dakota State Legislature would require voters to provide identification before voting or before obtaining an absentee ballot, a law some see as directed toward limiting access to the polls by Indian voters in upcoming elections.
Voter Fraud Legislation Rears Ugly Head in State: Legislation Appears to be Aimed at Indians Lakota Journal (Feb 2003)
Members of South Dakota's overwhelmingly Republican legislature sponsored three bills that presented a serious effort to limit Indian participation in the election process in South Dakota.

TRACK SOUTH DAKOTA BILLS
From Deb Phillips:
Dear Parents, Supporters, Friends & Relatives:

I have set up a LRC bill tracking site for you. It can be accessed at the LRC website located at http://legis.state.sd.us/index.cfm. Click "My legislative research". User Name is PWCC Password is kids The bills and committees involved thus far are listed and you can track when the hearings will be etc. Please try to make the hearing on the bills if you can. If not please at least contact the committee members and urge them to support the bill that you are interested in. Then when or if the bill moves to the floor of the House or Senate remember to contact your legislators and urge them to support your bill. If time permits contact other lawmakers that are not in your area but that you think you might have some influence on.

Good Luck - Stay in touch as much as possible and remember I am still waiting for feedback for a report to Rep. Klaudt as to how the complaints could be handled better, I really need to get him something this week.

Just because we have a new Governor and he making moves for changes in juvenile corrections does not mean that all is fixed or will be. We as parents and the youth still need to be involved to make sure that better programs are implemented that will help our children and the families that become involved in the system.

Peace
Deb Phillips

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Revenge Served Cold

REMEMBER JANCITA NO MORE COVER-UPS

Of Special Interest

General Issues

REMEMBER JANCITA
NO MORE COVER-UPS