JUDICIAL VOICES PROJECT
Capturing Histories of the South Dakota Supreme Court on its 125th Anniversary
HISTORIES, ACCOUNTS AND COMMENTARIES ON THE SUPREME COURT AND LEGAL PRACTICE IN THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
Finding a Home
Supreme Court Judges and first legislative delegation leaving from Deadwood for new Capital in Pierre, 1889.
In the early years of the Court, one of the greatest challenges was finding a permanent home for the Judges. Initially, there was a great deal of shuffling among different locations. South Dakota built a wooden capitol building in 1890 in Pierre, but it was too small to house the Supreme Court, so the justices were given offices in the Hughes County courthouse and shared the courtroom with the local circuit court judge. In 1891, an addition was built on to the Capitol to provide office space for the Supreme Court. The addition was completed on 1 October 1891 but did not include a courtroom, so the Supreme Court sessions were next held in the Senate chambers. Finally, in 1910, the Supreme Court was given a permanent home inside the east wing of the current stone capitol building in Pierre with space for administrative offices, courtroom, law library, and offices for the five judges. In 1909, the number of Judges on the Court had been increased from three to five.
Now that the Supreme Court finally had a permanent home, a unique feature was added: the mural “The Mercy of the Law” (also known as “The Gate of Justice”). The then rising young artist from Chicago, Charles Holloway painted it in 1910. Holloway described the mural:
"In the early middle ages structures following the general form of gates were erected to receive the throne of the judiciary. In various regions of Europe the church gates, the gates of justice, were adorned with sculptured lions. In the painting, on each side of the gateway is shown the sculptured lions, a symbol of courage.
The ornamental surrounding of the painting is simple suggestion. Shown at the top, the birds as emblems of peace and at the bottom, the cherubs as emblems of the spirit of goodness and love and the serpents as emblems of evil. On each side of the lower part of the center of the painting is shown the despairing and remorseful guilty.
In the center is the spirit of mercy—the symbol of God’s soul, showing pity and compassion for the guilty, but the guardians of nature’s law, the strong arm of God, demand their penalty. The offenders’ lives lie in the mercy of God, yet they must pay the penalty of their crime."
Holloway also painted murals for the South Dakota Senate and House. The mural in the House chamber depicts the first recorded Christian prayer in South Dakota, said to have been offered by Jedediah Smith, near Mobridge, on 2 June 1823. In the Senate chamber, Holloway’s mural illustrates the Louisiana Purchase.
Old Hughes County Courthouse