Michigan AG Opines that Former Tribal Officials with Certain Convictions Ineligible to Run for State Office

Here.

An excerpt:

Article 11, § 8 of the 1963 Constitution applies to a person who, within the immediately preceding 20 years, was convicted of a felony involving dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or breach of the public trust and the conviction was related to the person’s official capacity while holding an elective office or position of employment in a federally recognized Indian Tribe. Under article 11, § 8, such a person is ineligible for election or appointment to any state or local elective office of this State and ineligible to hold a position in public employment in this State that is policy-making or has discretionary authority over public assets.

One thought on “Michigan AG Opines that Former Tribal Officials with Certain Convictions Ineligible to Run for State Office

  1. anon August 21, 2013 / 9:02 am

    “[T]he Tribal government functions as a “local” government because its inherent authority to govern extends only to Tribal land and Tribe members. Oklahoma Tax Comm, 498 US at 509. In other words, the Tribe’s authority is limited to a particular place or part of a larger area.”

    The Michigan government functions as a “local” government because its inherent authority to govern extends only to Michigan land and Michigan residents. In other words, Michigan’s authority is limited to a particular place or part of a larger area.

    The United States government functions as a “local” government because its inherent authority to govern extends only to United States territory and U.S. citizens. In other words, U.S. authority is limited to a particular place or part of a larger area.

    I have no problem with the result here, but the reasoning in part II-D seems iffy. Despite footnote 6, I’d worry about further application of this idea of Tribes as “local governments.”

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