✳️ Why This Is Needed

We were told AI would make life easier.
Instead, it’s replacing judgment, stripping rights, and assigning punishments—without a face, a voice, or a conscience.

Every day, machines are issuing tickets, tracking our movements, flagging “behavior,” and labeling citizens by algorithm. Automated fines. Facial recognition. Predictive policing. And behind it all—databases built from your conversations, your cameras, your devices.

And it’s not just technology—it’s tyranny.

Federal agencies are still using the Patriot Act to justify surveillance of Americans with no warrant, no suspicion, and no way to fight back. What started as a tool to stop terrorism has become a weapon to monitor innocent people.

AI is not neutral.
Surveillance is not safety.
And liberty is not negotiable.

🌱 What We Could Have

A South Dakota where machines never outrank a human, and where your rights are not scanned, scored, or sold.

We could be the first state to guarantee that no citation, accusation, or punishment can be delivered without a real human being standing behind it. No robot cameras. No software judges. No automated fines.

We could say with clarity: The 4th Amendment still matters here.

We could pass laws that protect:

• Your face, your data, and your devices
  
• Your right to be left alone
  
• And your ability to walk, drive, or speak without being monitored by a government that doesn’t trust you
  

We could push back on the federal overreach and restore human dignity in a digital age.

🛠 How We Achieve It

• Ban all AI-enforced citations, surveillance triggers, or penalties issued without human review and signature
  
• Invalidate and forgive all past citations generated solely by machine enforcement (traffic cams, speed traps, predictive policing tools)
  
• Create a Digital Sovereignty Law barring facial recognition and biometric tracking by local governments or private contractors
  
• Outlaw participation in any federal surveillance program—including the Patriot Act—unless it’s backed by a real warrant and specific suspicion
  
• Establish a Right to Human Judgment law:
  
• No person may be prosecuted, fined, or detained based solely on AI, predictive software, or mass surveillance data
  
• All evidence must originate from a human witness, under oath, with the accused’s ability to confront
  
• Form a Digital Sovereignty Board to audit violations, protect whistleblowers, and guard against the next generation of unconstitutional technology
  
• Enshrine this pillar into law under the Tenth Amendment, affirming that South Dakota will not enforce federal surveillance tyranny
  

No machine should have the power to judge a free citizen. And no government should spy on its people in the name of safety. In South Dakota, we will draw the line—and defend it.

SECTION 1. TITLE

This Act shall be known as the “Human Rights and Digital Sovereignty Act of South Dakota.”

SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS

The Legislature of South Dakota finds that:

1. The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), predictive algorithms, and automated enforcement tools poses a direct threat to the civil liberties and constitutional protections of South Dakota residents.
   
2. The continued use of the USA PATRIOT Act, and related federal surveillance statutes, against citizens not suspected of foreign or terrorist activity is a violation of the Fourth Amendment and an affront to the dignity of free individuals.
   
3. Government by algorithm, without human judgment, undermines due process, equal protection, and the right to face one's accuser.
   
4. The State of South Dakota has the constitutional authority—under the Tenth Amendment and as a sovereign jurisdiction—to regulate the deployment of enforcement technology and federal surveillance within its borders.
   

SECTION 3. DEFINITIONS

• “Artificial Intelligence Enforcement System” means any system capable of issuing citations, tickets, penalties, or judgments without human authorization or real-time oversight.
  
• “Federal Surveillance Program” includes but is not limited to data collection operations under the USA PATRIOT Act, FISA Courts, PRISM, XKeyscore, or similar tools used to monitor communications without individualized warrants.
  
• “Digital Evidence” refers to any recording, algorithmic pattern, or AI-generated prediction used as primary justification for criminal or civil penalty.
  

SECTION 4. PROHIBITION OF AI-BASED CITATION OR PENALTY SYSTEMS

1. No municipality, county, or state agency within South Dakota shall deploy or contract with any AI enforcement system to:
   
• Issue traffic citations or red-light violations
  
• Enforce parking or speed infractions
  
• Levy fines, fees, or financial penalties
  
• Recommend arrests, detainment, or risk ratings
  
2. Any existing contracts enabling such systems shall be nullified within 180 days of this Act’s passage.
   
3. Citizens shall be entitled to immediate dismissal of any outstanding fines issued solely by machine or software without a human witness or signature.
   

SECTION 5. CITIZEN RIGHT TO HUMAN JUDGMENT

1. No citizen of South Dakota shall be subject to any legal proceeding, penalty, or surveillance report based solely on AI-generated evidence.
   
2. All criminal or civil complaints must include the affirmation of a named human agent responsible for initiating enforcement.
   
3. Any conviction or judgment secured by digital evidence alone shall be automatically reviewable and eligible for vacatur.
   

SECTION 6. NULLIFICATION OF FEDERAL DIGITAL SURVEILLANCE

1. The State of South Dakota hereby declares that the Patriot Act, and all derivative surveillance legislation or executive orders that violate the Fourth Amendment, are not enforceable within its borders.
   
2. No state agency, department, law enforcement body, university, or private contractor shall:
   
• Participate in unwarranted data collection of residents
  
• Cooperate with any federal mass surveillance operation
  
• Receive federal funding in exchange for sharing biometric, health, or digital communications data without a warrant signed by a state judge
  
3. Violation of this provision by any state or municipal employee shall constitute grounds for immediate dismissal and criminal referral.
   

SECTION 7. DIGITAL SOVEREIGNTY BOARD

1. A Digital Sovereignty Board shall be established under the Office of the Attorney General to:
   
• Review complaints of AI-based legal abuse
  
• Issue cease-and-desist orders to localities violating this Act
  
• Monitor federal surveillance attempts in cooperation with independent civil liberties auditors
  
2. The Board shall include:
   
• One elected judge
  
• One technology privacy expert
  
• Two citizens chosen by lottery
  
• One tribal representative
  

SECTION 8. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION

Any South Dakota resident employed in public or private tech or enforcement sectors who discloses illegal AI enforcement or surveillance activity shall be:

• Granted legal immunity from retaliation
  
• Protected under state whistleblower laws
  
• Eligible for a one-time state bonus of $10,000 upon validated disclosure
  

SECTION 9. SEVERABILITY

If any portion of this Act is held invalid, the remainder shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 10. EFFECTIVE DATE

This Act shall take effect 90 days after passage and shall apply retroactively to digital citations issued within the previous 24 months.

“They watched us, rated us, judged us, and fined us—without ever knowing our names. Not in South Dakota. We are not data. We are people. And we demand to be treated like it.”