FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, January 25, 2016

Contact: Jason Glodt

Cell Phone: 605.280.7767 

Email: [email protected]  

Marsy’s Law is First Ballot Question to Officially Make Ballot
Campaign Announces Hiring of Two New Staff Positions and New Website

Marsy’s Law for South Dakota, an organization composed of citizens and victim rights advocates, announced today that it is the first ballot question to pass the challenge period with no challenges.  As a result, it is the first initiated ballot question to officially make the ballot for the General Election on November 8, 2016.  The Secretary of State has classified the ballot question as “Constitutional Amendment S.” 

Last November, Marsy’s Law for South Dakota filed nearly 53,000 signatures with the Secretary of State, well in excess of the 27,741 required by South Dakota law for an initiated constitutional amendment to be placed on the ballot. 

“This is another great day for crime victims in South Dakota,” said Jason Glodt, former prosecutor and State Director for Marsy’s Law for South Dakota, “South Dakota has some of the weakest crime victim rights in the nation and we are now one step closer to giving victims equal rights that would actually be enforceable by a court of law.” 

“We are also ramping up our grassroots campaign effort,” said Glodt.  “We are excited to announce that Tami Haug-Davis and Jordan Callaghan have joined our team and will be helping to make our grassroots organization even stronger.” 

“Tami and Jordan have decades of experience fighting for crime victims and they will be a strong asset to our team,” said Glodt.

Tami Haug-Davis will be the Outreach Director for Marsy’s Law for South Dakota.  She is a Licensed Professional Counselor from Sioux Falls who has over 25 years of experience working in child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault. Tami has experience in child protection and 24 hour crisis intervention for domestic violence and sexual assault victims.  Tami has taught workshops and seminars in family violence and she has done treatment work with batterers and offenders. 

Jordan Callaghan from Vermillion will be a Field Director for Marsy’s Law for South Dakota.  Jordan graduated from the University of South Dakota with a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology and Psychology, and is currently obtaining her Masters of Social Work from the University of South Dakota. She has extensive experience advocating for marginalized and vulnerable populations in South Dakota. 

Marsy’s Law for South Dakota also has a new website located at https://marsyslaw.us with a state-specific page link at https://marsyslaw.us/marsys-law-state-efforts/south-dakota/.  The website is a comprehensive source for information about Marsy’s Law and includes regular updates from states where Marsy’s Law campaigns are currently underway.