Porn verification bill gets revived, recast in Legislature's final days

Sponsors object to latest iteration that would commission summer study

12 Senators, the bare minimum required, stand to “smoke out” a bill that would require porn websites to implement age verification technology. (Austin Goss/The Dakota Scout)

PIERRE — A measure intended to crack down on the ability of minors to watch pornography in South Dakota has new life after it was defeated by a Senate committee.

But an amendment to the bill that completely changes its intent has its chief supporters pushing for it to be returned to its original form.

House Bill 1257 originally would have required websites with a primary purpose of circulating pornography to implement age verification technology. Now, it requires legislative leadership to commission a summer study tasked with assessing the state’s ability to regulate children’s access to porn.

That amendment was brought by Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck, who stressed the seriousness of the issue while raising concerns about how the bill as previously written could open the state to lawsuits.

“We want do this the right way because it is important,” Schoenbeck said. “It is important to fight this scourge on young people. We want to do this the right way because the alternative is you fail and you fund the ACLU.” The Watertown Republican was referencing the American Civil Liberties Union’s opposition to the bill.

VIEWPOINT: South Dakota senators failed to protect children from pornography