Should Janklow pay settlement?
South Dakota’s four-term governor and former congressman, Bill Janklow was back in the spotlight last week, attracting the ire of angry taxpayers with the news of a $1 million settlement in the wrongful death of Randy Scott.
That’s because U.S. taxpayers, not Bill Janklow, were on the hook for the civil damages awarded to the family of the late motorcyclist.
Scott was killed Aug. 16, 2003, when Janklow drove through a stop sign on a rural highway in eastern South Dakota and collided with Scott’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle. That collision led to Janklow’s conviction for second-degree manslaughter and cost him his seat in Congress. He served 100 days in jail, paid a $5,000 fine and lost his law license temporarily.
But he avoided a civil lawsuit when the U.S. attorney in Minnesota concluded Janklow was on official business at the time of the crash, which made the federal government responsible for financial damages because he was performing his duties as a government worker. The Scott family had wanted to sue Jank-low personally, which would have allowed them to pursue punitive damages, something that is not allowed under the Federal Tort Claims Act.