A federal judge took a rhetorical flame to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, saying in a ruling this week that the state has done “little or nothing” to stop COVID-19 from plaguing the state. The Sioux Falls Argus leader reports that US District Judge Charles Kornmann has ordered a state court to stop using the pandemic as an excuse to delay a defendant’s trial. Then he went after the state’s response to the crisis itself. “South Dakota has done little or nothing to stem the spread of the virus,” he wrote. “South Dakota cannot ‘take advantage’ of its own failure to follow scientific facts and safeguards in enacting blanket denials of the rights to quick lawsuits.” Noem has opposed mask mandates and other lockdown measures, even though her state achieved one of the worst contamination rates per capita in the country. “Her example significantly encourages South Dakotans not to wear masks,” the judge wrote. “South Dakota is now a very dangerous place to live because of the spread of COVID-19.”

A federal judge took a rhetorical flame to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, saying in a ruling this week that the state has done “little or nothing” to stop COVID-19 from plaguing the state. The Sioux Falls Argus leader reports that US District Judge Charles Kornmann has ordered a state court to stop using the pandemic as an excuse to delay a defendant’s trial. Then he went after the state’s response to the crisis itself. “South Dakota has done little or nothing to stem the spread of the virus,” he wrote. “South Dakota cannot ‘take advantage’ of its own failure to follow scientific facts and safeguards in enacting blanket denials of the rights to quick lawsuits.” Noem has opposed mask mandates and other lockdown measures, even though her state achieved one of the worst contamination rates per capita in the country. “Her example significantly encourages South Dakotans not to wear masks,” the judge wrote. “South Dakota is now a very dangerous place to live because of the spread of COVID-19.”