A bill changing the name of the Department of Corrections to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations failed on the House floor Monday.
Opponents argue the bill accomplished nothing material.
Proponents of the bill say it signals to state residents that this legislature is looking at incarceration in a new light.
Sioux Falls Rep. Erin Healy is the bill’s prime house sponsor. She said it sends a message to constituents about criminal justice reform.
“I truly believe we need to rehabilitate inmates. We need to focus on education, job training, mental health and substance abuse treatment. I think one of the first ways we accomplish that is by addressing the name change," Healy said. "That’s what a lot of brands do as they’re trying to change their missions and their values. I think it was a really positive way to have staff and just the public in general see the DOC and start to think about rehabilitation."
She said a name “sets the tone” for the whole department, and changing it shifts the narrative.
Rep. Peri Pourier is an opponent of the bill. The Democrat from Pine Ridge said the current legislature has “not earned the right” to change the DOC’s name.
“I would love for us to change the name when we actually change our criminal justice system to be more geared to rehabilitation. And it’s not. So, I’m afraid that if we change the name then everybody is going to say, ‘Oh, there’s nothing to see here.’ Changing the name is so superficial, and it doesn’t impact anything at all," Pourier said. "We here in the legislature, we’re supposed to be impacting change. We’re supposed to be improving lives. We’re supposed to create conditions where people thrive, not bury our hands in the sand and say, ‘Well, we changed our name."
She adds it’s worse than a band aid solution, saying the bill “literally ignores a wound.”
Despite previously passing 35-0 on the Senate floor, the bill failed on the House floor 55-14.
