Three Maine tribes weighing legalization of pot on their lands.
Criminal
NCAI Press Release: Tribal Governments Able to Take Criminal Action on Non-Indians
Tribal Governments Able to Take Criminal Action on Non-Indians
Washington, DC- On March 7, 2015, Tribal governments may elect to begin exercising jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, or violate a protection order against a Native victim on tribal lands.
“This is a major step forward to protect the safety of Native people, and we thank all Members of Congress for passing the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 and recognizing tribal authority,” said Brian Cladoosby, President of the National Congress of American Indians and Chairman of the Swinomish Tribe.
So far three Tribes, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, and the Tulalip Tribes have been able to exercise jurisdiction over non-Indians under a Pilot Project since February 6, 2014. To date the Tribes have charged a total of 26 Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction cases.
“I want to encourage all tribal governments to get this law on their books,” said Juana Majel, Chair of the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women. “The main goal is deterrence of domestic violence. On most reservations there are a handful of bad actors who have figured out how to slip between jurisdictional boundaries. They need to get the message. If they continue to assault our women we will prosecute and put them in jail.”
Violence against Native women has reached epidemic proportions. The root cause is a justice system that forced tribal governments to rely on distant federal — and in some cases, state —officials to investigate and prosecute misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence committed by non-Indians against Native women. However, outside law enforcement has proven ineffective in addressing misdemeanor level reservation-based domestic violence. The Justice Department has found that when non-Indian cases of domestic violence go uninvestigated and unpunished, offenders’ violence escalates. The 2013 VAWA Reauthorization authorizes tribal governments to investigate and prosecute all crimes of domestic and dating violence regardless of the race of the offender.
Tribes choosing to exercise Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction must provide the same rights guaranteed under the Constitution as in state court. This includes the appointment of attorneys for indigent defendants and a jury drawn from the entire reservation community. “Many tribal courts are already providing these protections to defendants, and it isn’t a big step to provide indigent counsel to all. Just like county courts, tribal courts can contract for public defenders on a case-by-case basis,” encouraged President Cladoosby.
Key Statistics:
34% of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes
59% of assaults against Native women occur at or near a private residence
59% of American Indian women in 2010 were married to non-Native men
46% of people living on reservations in 2010 were non-Natives (single race)
On some reservations, Native women are murdered at more than ten times the national average
For an overview on tribal VAWA, and more information please see: http://www.ncai.org/tribal-vawa. The Tribal Law & Policy Institute has developed a Legal Code Resource for implementation at www.TLPI.org.
News Coverage of Drug-Related Banishments by Saginaw Chippewa
Here is “Traffic stop leads to heroin arrest.”
And:”Two banished from Isabella Reservation before their day in court.”
The tribe’s press release is here. The text:
The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal Council has taken a bold and proactive position today to assert Tribal sovereignty on their War on Drugs. Unanimous votes were cast today during a work session of the Tribal Council for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe to exclude or banish two non-member Native American’s for their involvement in drug trafficking within the boundaries of the Isabella Federal Reservation.
“Today our people have shown that we are no longer going to tolerate people who peddle unhealthy and life destroying substances onto the reservation. Today we took necessary steps to protect and uphold our members and their families against this plague called addiction”, stated Tribal Chief Steve Pego.
A routine traffic stop in Mt. Pleasant late Tuesday night, February 17, 2015, ended in a drug bust and the arrest of one woman on charges of possession of heroin and intent to deliver and another woman for carrying concealed weapons. “These are not the type of people we want in our community”, stated Tribal Sub Chief, Lorna Kahgegab Call.
Tribal Council under Ordinance No.3 of the Tribal Code can exclude individuals from their territories for specific reasons. “The choice to exclude these individuals before conviction is our way of sending the message that this will not be tolerated in our community”, stated Tribal Police Captain Jim Cates.
Maine Tribes seek authority to exercise VAWA ’13 jurisdiction
Because of the Maine Settlement Act of 1980, state law would have to change to facilitate tribal authority, and a bill has been introduced. Here’s the news article.
Federal Court Indictment and Motion to Dismiss in Alleged Narragansett Powwow Stabbing
Here are the materials in United States v. Simonds (D. R.I.):
News coverage here.
Iowa COA Affirms Misdemeanor Traffic Ticket over Challenge from Sac and Fox Tribal Member
Here is the opinion in Young v. State:
Seneca Member’s Indictment under Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act Proceeds
Here are the materials in United States v. Parry (E.D. Mo.):
Eighth Circuit Holds Lacey Act Does Not Bar Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Members from Fishing on Leech Lake Reservation
Here is the opinion in United States v. Brown.
An excerpt:
Appellees Michael Brown, Jerry Reyes, Marc Lyons, and Frederick Tibbetts were indicted under the Lacey Act which makes it unlawful to “sell . . . any fish . . . taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of . . . any Indian tribal law.” 16 U.S.C. § 3372(a)(1). The indictments alleged that appellees had netted fish for commercial purposes within the boundaries of the Leech Lake Reservation in violation of the Leech Lake Conservation Code, then sold the fish. Appellees are Chippewa Indians, and they moved to dismiss the indictments on the ground that their prosecution violates fishing rights reserved under the 1837 Treaty between the United States and the Chippewa. The district court granted the motions to dismiss. The 1 United States appeals, arguing that its application of the Lacey Act did not infringe on appellees’ fishing rights. We affirm.
Briefs:
Federal Forfeiture Action over $400,000 of NY Indian Tobacco Retailer
Here is the complaint in United States v. $400,000 (W.D. N.Y.):
Excerpts:
During the investigation, it was determined that the parties involved in the shipping of the contraband cigarettes in interstate commerce also filed false information to the appropriate taxation authorities as required under the Jenkins Act, Title 15, United States Code, Sections 375-378. All cigarette sales made by a stamping agent are required by New York State law to be recorded on a form known as Form CG which had to be sent on a monthly basis to the NYSDT in Albany, New York, with a certificate that the information contained therein was true and correct.
And:
During the time period of September 24, 2012 – January 14, 2013, AARON PIERCE through his corporation, AJ’s Wholesale LLC (“hereafter “AJ’s”) sold 403,413 cartons of cigarettes in a manner designed to make it look on paper as though the untaxed cigarettes were legitimately obtained through Ho-Chunk, Inc. (“HCID”) a tribal cigarette and tobacco distributor, a corporation operated by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, as well as other Native American cigarette and tobacco suppliers.
Finally:
Ho-Chunk, Inc. is the parent company of HCI Logistics (HCIL) which is a commercial transportation company that HCID would use to transport product from the HCID warehouse in Winnebago, Nebraska. Neither HCID nor HCIL are licensed tobacco wholesalers or state stamping agents in Nebraska or New York State.
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