In March, a bill to eliminate the death penalty for...

In March, a bill to eliminate the death penalty for mentally retarded defendants and for defendants under the age of 16 passed in the legislature, but was vetoed by Governor Bill Janklow; in fact, the first bill Janklow signed when he was elected to office in 1979 reinstated the penalty. South Dakota is one of eight states with the death penalty which has had no executions since the law was reinstated.