Barnett Distributes $85,795 to State’s Domestic Violence Shelters

(Pierre) – Attorney General Mark Barnett said today that his office is sending over $85,000 to South Dakota’s 26 domestic violence shelters. The funds are a result of last year’s settlement with Nine West Group Inc., a women’s shoe manufacturer, over allegations of price-fixing.

"We’re sending this money with the hope that we can help South Dakota’s domestic violence shelters carry on their mission," Barnett said. "As part of the agreement, these funds will be used to provide clothing for the women and children who use the Shelters."

The funds were distributed to the following South Dakota shelters:

Brookings Domestic Abuse Shelter

W.E.A.V.E. – Custer

Sacred Heart Women Shelter – Eagle Butte

Wholeness Center – Flandreau

Wiconi Wawokiya, Inc. – Ft. Thompson

Gregory County Shelter

Fall River Crisis Intervention Team, Inc.

YWCA Family Violence Program – Huron

Cangleska, Inc. – Kyle

Women’s Lodge – Lake Andes

Domestic Crisis Outreach Center – Lead

Madison House of Hope, Inc. – Madison

Communities Against Violence and Abuse Inc. – Lemmon

Mitchell Area Safehouse

Bridges Against Domestic Violence – Mobridge

Missouri Shores Domestic Violence Center

Working Against Violence, Inc. – Rapid City

Children’s Inn – Sioux Falls

Women’s Circle Support Services – Sisseton

Artemis House – Spearfish

Crisis Intervention Shelter Services – Sturgis

Vermillion Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Women’s Resource Center- Watertown

Weed & Seed – Waubay

Women’s Center/Shelter - Yankton

White Buffalo Calf Woman Society, Inc. - Mission

"These shelters helped over 10,000 victims last year," Barnett said. "Some of those victims are in desperate need of decent clothing. I am grateful to be able to help out at their time of personal crisis."

The settlement, first announced last Spring, settled allegations of price-fixing by all fifty states, D.C., and the U.S. territories. The states had alleged that Nine West Group entered into illegal agreements with shoe retailers to fix the retail price of women’s shoes between January 1988 and July 1999. Working with the Federal Trade Commission, the attorneys general uncovered evidence that various Nine West divisions, including Easy Spirit, Enzo Angiolini, and Nine West, had engaged in illegal vertical resale price maintenance, by prohibiting retailers from discounting certain shoes. Price-fixing is illegal under both federal and state antitrust laws.

As a result of the alleged illegal pricing agreements, state and federal authorities alleged that consumers were denied an open and competitive market for certain Nine West shoes, and therefore paid higher prices for these shoes. Under the terms of the settlement, Nine West Group did not admit any liability or wrongdoing.

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