From a press release issued by the AMA:

AMA URGES MOTORCYCLISTS TO TAKE ACTION IN WAKE OF JANKLOW SENTENCE

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is urging motorcyclists nationwide, many of whom share the AMA’s disappointment in the light sentence imposed on former U.S. Representative Bill Janklow last week, to take constructive action to help prevent similar injustices from happening in the future.

The AMA soon will announce a legislative-action strategy and a public-awareness campaign targeting inadequate sentencing laws in South Dakota and nationwide. The program will include events that coincide with the 2004 Black Hills Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota.

“The sentence imposed on Mr. Janklow is an affront to all motorcyclists, and it’s time to act,” said Edward Moreland, Vice President of AMA Government Relations. “But protests and symbolic gestures aren’t enough — we need to take the kind of action, nationally and locally, that changes the way the justice system sentences drivers who kill motorcyclists.”

Janklow, who was convicted December 8, 2003, of second-degree manslaughter and three other counts related to a traffic crash that claimed the life of a Minnesota motorcyclist, was sentenced on January 22 to 100 days in the Minnehaha County Jail. Janklow will not have to spend time in the South Dakota State Penitentiary, and he could be eligible for a work-release program after 30 days in jail.