News

Profile on Criminal Justice at Colville

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Wenatchee News:

NESPELEM — Charlene Bearcub looks out her office window in Nespelem and does not see justice.

A probation officer for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Bearcub lost her son to a gun nearly five years ago.

A few blocks away, she can see the small, gray house where her oldest son, Ronald D. Thomas Jr., was shot and killed Jan. 12, 2005.

Next to her office sit two pale yellow prefabricated buildings which house Colville Tribal Court, where a tribal jury acquitted the teenager arrested and charged with her son’s homicide.

They were both 18, and best friends.

Even if he had been convicted, the boy would have spent only a year in jail for the crime, at most, because he was tried in tribal court. Under terms of the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, no tribe may impose punishment greater than one year imprisonment. Serious crimes — like rape and murder — are supposed to fall to federal agents to investigate, and the U.S. Attorney for prosecution. But when the U.S. Attorney declines to prosecute, the only other option is tribal court.

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Navajo Voters Approve Referendum Reducing Size of Council and Granting Presidential Veto Power

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Navajo Times:

If he were a gambling man, this would be the week for President Joe Shirley Jr. to buy a lottery ticket.

Navajo Nation voters overwhelmingly supported his government reform initiatives including a question to reduce the membership of the Navajo Nation Council, just one day after a Window Rock District Court judge rescued Shirley from a two-month-long forced leave imposed Oct. 26 by the council.

“I am very happy for the people,” Shirley said Tuesday night at the Window Rock Sports Center, where election results were posted along the wall as they came in from the chapters. “I’ve always said this is their initiative, their money, their laws. They put the initiatives in the books. This is history in the making.”

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Bomb Threat at Soaring Eagle Casino

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From TV via Pechanga:

MT. PLEASANT — Employees head back to work at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mt. Pleasant after a bomb threat Wednesday afternoon. It was like any other day at the casino  until a call came in that turned the resort upside down. “The Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police Department at approximately 1:30 this afternoon received a bomb threat,” said Public Relations Director Frank Cloutier.

Six other law enforcement agencies were called and within minutes the resort was swarming with police ready to shut the area down.

Casino player Kim Jones drove an hour to get to the casino when she was turned away. “Yes we were coming here to the casino and we got up here and we saw all the police cars…a friend…was here earlier and was playing a slot and the (police) come in and told them they all have to leave,” said Jones.

“We had a bomb threat and they evacuated us very professionally and we’re dealing with it the best we can,” said evacuee Randy Thompson.

Frank Cloutier said the bomb scare was unlike any evacuation he’s ever seen. “We haven’t had an impact on the property to this magnitude,” Cloutier said.

The search continued for over six hours but no evidence of a bomb turned up.  Kim Jones said she was cashing in on her own theory about what took place.”Because I think somebody just lost and was upset and it doesn’t surprise me,” said Jones.

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Greektown Revenues Improving

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Detroit News via Pechanga:

Detroit — Greektown Casino-Hotel, the city’s smallest casino, reported a 21-percent increase in its November revenue over the same month in 2008.

Greektown took in $28.44 million last month compared to $23.51 million a year earlier.

Overall, gaming revenues were up just slightly in November, 0.6 percent, compared to the same month last year, according to numbers released by the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity casinos reported respective year-over-year declines of 7.8 percent and 1.8 percent during the same time period.

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News Article on Grand Traverse Band Fee to Trust Issues

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

PESHAWBESTOWN — A local American Indian tribe wants to expand its reservation.

Nearly 80 acres of additional land in northwest Michigan is a good start.

The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians acquired a 78-acre parcel in Antrim County’s Milton Township last week.

Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey said the land trust soon will house 22 residential sites for band members.

The recent land acquisition addressed a “fundamental need” for tribal housing located near Turtle Creek Casino in Williamsburg and Grand Traverse Resort & Spa in Acme, Bailey said.

The parcel originally was zoned for agricultural development, said Chris Weinzapfel, Milton Township zoning administrator. But the band spent $1.5 million on road, sewer, water and electrical improvements, in hopes it could obtain residential zoning rights.

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News Coverage of BIA Opinion Letter re: Seneca Indian Preference in Employment

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the Buffalo News via Pechanga:

LEWISTON — It’s perfectly legal for the Seneca Nation of Indians to give preferential treatment to Senecas and other Native Americans in filling jobs at the Hickory Stick Golf Course, a federal official has written.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act contains an exception to nondiscrimination laws, allowing Indian hiring preferences for “any business or enterprise on or near an Indian reservation,” according to Kevin Bearquiver, deputy director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

He wrote the opinion in response to a request from the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency.

A 1977 executive order defined “near” as anyplace within a reasonable daily commute from a reservation.

The IDA board voted Aug. 13 to ask its attorney to seek an opinion on whether the Seneca Nation’s employment preference ordinance applies to the golf course, which is owned by the Seneca Gaming Corp., but is not built on Seneca-owned land. The IDA has an interest in the issue because it granted a property tax break to the Lewiston golf course in 2007.

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NYTs Article on Indian Country Gangs

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the NYTs:

PINE RIDGE, S.D. — Richard Wilson has been a pallbearer for at least five of his “homeboys” in the North Side Tre Tre Gangster Crips, a Sioux imitation of a notorious Denver gang.

One 15-year-old member was mauled by rivals. A 17-year-old shot himself; another, on a cocaine binge and firing wildly, was shot by the police. One died in a drunken car wreck, and another, a founder of the gang named Gaylord, was stabbed to death at 27.

“We all got drunk after Gaylord’s burial, and I started rapping,” said Mr. Wilson, who, at 24, is practically a gang elder. “But I teared up and couldn’t finish.”

Mr. Wilson is one of 5,000 young men from the Oglala Sioux tribe involved with at least 39 gangs on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The gangs are being blamed for an increase in vandalism, theft, violence and fear that is altering the texture of life here and in other parts of American Indian territory.

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New Firekeepers Casino Crime Impact Never Materialized

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Battle Creek Inquirer via Pechanga:

Four months after the opening of FireKeepers Casino, local police say crime hasn’t risen as some casino opponents had feared.

While some critics feared the casino would lead to an increase in burglaries, embezzlement and crimes of that ilk, that hasn’t materialized, police and residents said.

Increased traffic is the thing most residents near the casino are going to experience, said Emmett Township’s acting Public Safety Director Kenneth Cunningham. Gamers at the casino might see the occasional drunken and disorderly conduct, but nothing more than would be expected at a place selling alcohol, Cunningham said.

Cunningham and casino officials said data on the number of incidents near FireKeepers and on casino grounds were not immediately available. Those statistics are tracked by the Huron Potawatomi Police Department, the force for the Athens Township-based Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, FireKeepers’ owners.

Residents living near the facility say its impact has been minimal.

“It’s not really been a problem,” said Sue Bess, 67, who lives on Ackerson Drive, directly east of the casino property. “Traffic’s not really been much different. Everything’s moved pretty smooth.”

The tribe in October 2008 signed a $1.1 million agreement with Emmett Township for Emmett to police the casino around the clock for three years. The tribe pays for five cross-trained police, fire and emergency medical public safety officers and a new patrol car for the township, which is housed at the casino. Fire or medical calls are handled and paid for on a per-call basis.

Four months after the casino’s opening, “Things are going very good,” Cunningham said.

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Carcieri Fix/Akaka Bill Hearings Postponed

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Until December 17 (here).

News Coverage of LTBB Casino General Manager Hiring

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the Petoskey News-Review:

The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Tribal Council did not take action Sunday, during its regular meeting, to suspend the hiring process for a new general manager at the casino.

According to John Bott, tribal council member, the action request item was presented by tribal chairman Ken Harrington, but was not fully explained.

“We never got an explanation as to what it was about,” Bott said. “As a result, no action was taken, and no motion was made.”

The tribe began its search for a new general manager for the casino after Sean Barnard, who had been in the position since May of 2008, tendered his resignation on Nov. 23, making his last official day Dec. 4.

Harrington said he couldn’t fully explain the reason he brought this potential hiring suspension to the tribal council, but said it was directly linked to tribe’s current renegotiation process for the casino’s financing.

“(The reason) is tied to a confidential report, and I can’t go into great detail,” he said. “I wanted to slow the (hiring) process down until we were complete with the forbearance agreement … there might still be some unknowns.” Continue reading →