Kristi Noem’s Inability to Spot Actual Criminals is Somehow Worse Than Previously Thought
As it turns out, Noem’s got as much a penchant for making erroneous arrests as she does erroneous pardons.
Photo: Getty Images Politics Kristi Noem
Somewhere between being Secretary of Homeland Security and shooting her family dog, Cricket, Kristi Noem was—for six years—the governor of South Dakota. And as it turns out, she’s got as much a penchant for making erroneous pardons as she does erroneous arrests.
Per a new report by South Dakota Searchlight, it was during Noem’s run as governor that she granted an early release to 19 prison inmates in the state—12 of whom have since been re-charged with new crimes, including charges of domestic violence and driving under the influence. Eight of these individuals have been charged with felonies.
As governor, Noem issued 27 commutations (reduced sentences) overall. In some cases, these were standard procedure: in the Mount Rushmore State, the governor possesses the exclusive authority to issue commutations and pardons, and the process of getting a commutation begins by submitting an application to the Board of Pardons and Paroles—of which nine members are a part. If a commutation-seeker is successful in getting the majority of the board to recommend them forward, their name goes to the governor’s desk for final approval.
Noem, however, was unusual in her approach to grant these 19 commutations—and for the first time in 20 years, issued them clemency without any insight from the board. Most of the decisions came around December in 2022 and 2023, with seven being issued the first year and 12 being issued the year after. Noem has yet to comment on this matter, or explain how exactly their names appeared on her desk. Fishy!
But Noem’s history in public service is mired in a humiliating inability to do the public any service—and comes as yet another reminder of how MAGA is guided by nothing by hypocrisy. In Noem’s post as DHS secretary, from which she was fired in March, she not only led an agency that wrongly detained pregnant and postpartum women, babies, and U.S. citizens—but made a habit of fabricating stories about them.
In her time as governor, Noem also granted 348 pardons. As Trump’s pardoned more than 1,000 people since returning to office—including anti-abortion extremists and Jan. 6 insurrectionists, of which dozens have been re-arrested for other crimes—maybe it’s really just a MAGA habit.
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