"A stiff sentence in a Rapid City hate crime case won’t put an end to the city’s longstanding race relation issues, but the sentence will send a message: This can’t be tolerated from anyone.

Two 21-year-olds plead guilty to malicious intimidation for attacking Native Americans with rocks and eggs. Earlier this week, they received a stiff sentence for their crimes.

For the next five years the two will be on probation, they’ll be required to abstain from drugs and alcohol, they will spend one weekend in jail each year, participate in classes with the victims, participate in talking circles organized by the Society for the Advancement of Native Interests - Today, and they’ll serve 100 hours of community service. Failure to comply with the terms of the probation could land them in the jail for two years.

The punishment is tough but it fits the crime."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Sentence a message to community (The Rapid City Journal 9/4)

Also Today:
Judge orders jail, long probation for hate crime (The Rapid City Journal 9/2)

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