Ninth Circuit Rejects Habeas Petition of Native Man Sentenced to Death

Here is the opinion in Runningeagle v. Ryan.

SCOTUS Holds Puerto Rico Does Not Possess Separate Sovereign Authority to Prosecute; Indian Law Bullet Dodged

Here is the opinion in Commonwealth of Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle.

P.R. had tried to analogize itself to Indian nations, but that effort failed:

For similar reasons, Indian tribes also count as separate sovereigns under the Double Jeopardy Clause. Originally, this Court has noted, “the tribes were self-governing sovereign political communities,” possessing (among other capacities) the “inherent power to prescribe laws for their members and to punish infractions of those laws.” Wheeler, 435 U. S., at 322–323. After the formation of the United States, the tribes became “domestic dependent nations,” subject to plenary control by Congress—so hardly “sovereign” in one common sense. United States v. Lara, 541 U. S. 193, 204 (2004) (quoting Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 5 Pet. 1, 17 (1831)); see Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U. S. 49, 56 (1978) (“Congress has plenary authority to limit, modify or eliminate the [tribes’] powers of local self-government”). But unless and until Congress withdraws a tribal power—including the power to prosecute—the Indian community retains that authority in its earliest form. See Wheeler, 435 U. S., at 323. The “ultimate source” of a tribe’s “power to punish tribal offenders” thus lies in its “primeval” or, at any rate, “pre-existing” sovereignty: A tribal prosecution, like a State’s, is “attributable in no way to any delegation . . . of federal authority.” Id., at 320, 322, 328; Santa Clara Pueblo, 436 U. S., at 56. And that alone is what matters for the double jeopardy inquiry. 

Slip. op. at 9-10. So now we can say tribal sovereignty is “primeval”: whether we should is another question.

The dissent, authored by Justice Breyer and joined by Justice Sotomayor, argues that tribal sovereignty actually does derive from Congress, by virtue of Congress not divesting it completely:

But as the Court today recognizes, this prelapsarian independence must be read in light of congressional action—or, as it were, inaction. That is because—whatever a tribe’s history— Congress maintains “plenary authority to limit, modify or eliminate the [tribes’] powers of local self-government,” Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U. S. 49, 56 (1978), and thus the tribes remain sovereign for purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause only “until” Congress chooses to withdraw that power, ante, at 10. In this sense, Congress’ pattern of inaction (i.e., its choice to refrain from withdrawing dual sovereignty) amounts to an implicit decision to grant such sovereignty to the tribes. Is not Congress then, in this way, the “source” of the Indian tribes’ criminal enforcement power?

Dissent at 5. No no no!!!!

Fortunately, the Court rejects this formulation, calling it “deeply disturbing”:

This Court’s reasoning could not have been plainer: The States (all of them) are separate sovereigns for double jeopardy purposes not (as the dissent claims) because they exercise authority over criminal law, but instead because that power derives from a source independent of the Federal Government. See Heath, 474 U. S., at 89. So too for the tribes, see supra, at 9–10; and, indeed, here the dissent’s contrary reasoning is deeply disturbing. According to the dissent, Congress is in fact “the ‘source’ of the Indian tribes’ criminal enforcement power” because it has elected not to disturb the exercise of that authority. Post, at 5. But beginning with Chief Justice Marshall and continuing for nearly two centuries, this Court has held firm and fast to the view that Congress’s power over Indian affairs does nothing to gainsay the profound importance of the tribes’ pre-existing sovereignty. See Worcester v. Georgia, 6 Pet. 515, 559–561 (1832); Talton v. Mayes, 163 U. S. 376, 384 (1896); Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community, 572 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2014) (slip op., at 4–5). And once again, we have stated in no uncertain terms that the tribes are separate sovereigns precisely because of that inherent authority.

Slip. op. at 11 n. 5. Whew!

Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction Pilot Project Report

Here:

SDVCJ Pilot Project Report_6-7-16_Final

Federal Court Issues Interesting Post-Zepeda Indian Status Decision

Here are the materials in United States v. Loera (D. Ariz.):

7 Loera Opening Brief

16 Loera Revised Opening Brief

24 US Response

25 Reply

26 DCT Order

An excerpt:

Loera does not meet the first two and most important factors of Bruce’s second prong. And while evidence supports finding that he did satisfy the third and fourth Bruce factors, the Government has successfully demonstrated that Loera’s satisfaction of those factors is weak. In the end, accounting for the descending level of importance given to each Bruce factor, and viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, a rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Loera does not qualify as an Indian. See Cruz, 554 F.3d at 844. Accordingly, the Court affirms the decision of the magistrate court below; the exercise of federal jurisdiction over this case was appropriate pursuant to § 1152.

 

Tlingit & Haida Tribes of Alaska’s Written Testimony to Senate Indian Affairs Committee

Download the Tribe’s May 31st letter here.

Previous posts on S.2785 and S.2920 here and here.

Tulalip Tribe’s Written Testimony Submitted to Senate Indian Affairs Committee

Download Tulalip’s June 1st letter and attachments here.

Link to previous coverage of S.2785 and S.2920 here.

Materials on Federal Seizure of $741,480 from Hopi Cultural Preservation Board Bank Account

Here are the materials so far in United States v. $741,480.00 (D. Ariz.):

1 Complaint

17 Application for Default Judgment

21 Application for Partial Default Judgment

Calls of Justice for Aboriginal Women Echo Down Canada’s Highway of Tears

From the New York Times:

Dozens of Canadian women and girls, most of them indigenous, have disappeared or been murdered near Highway 16, a remote ribbon of asphalt that bisects British Columbia and snakes past thick forests, logging towns and impoverished Indian reserves on its way to the Pacific Ocean. So many women and girls have vanished or turned up dead along one stretch of the road that residents call it the Highway of Tears.

More HERE.

 

Menominee Tribe Loses Hemp Suit

Here is the decision in Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin v Drug Enforcement Administration (E.D. Wis.):

26 DCT Order

Briefs here.

Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s Testimony Submitted to Senate Indian Affairs Committee

Download transcript of PYT’s oral testimony here.

Link to written testimony and meeting video here.

Links to legislation: S.2785, S.2916, S.2920.