TLOA

D.C. Federal Court Rejects FBI Reasons for Not Acknowledging Cayuga Nation Police

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Cayuga Nation v. United States (D.D.C.):

1 Complaint

12 Amended Complaint

16-1 US Motion for Summary J

20 Cayuga Cross Motion

22 US Reply

24 Cayuga Reply

26-dct-orderDownload
The FBI’s decision had a lot to do with this. . . .

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. Donald J. Trump

Matthew Campbell

Here is the complaint in Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. Donald J. Trump, which relates to Cheyenne River’s Health Safety Checkpoints.

From the complaint:

The United States and the nation’s Native American tribes are in a state of emergency. COVID-19 is spreading rapidly throughout the country, infecting millions of people, including in South Dakota, which has had 6,353 confirmed cases and 83 deaths outside the boundaries of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. Experts estimate that, for every confirmed COVID-19 case, there could be as many as eleven unconfirmed cases. “At this time, there is no known cure, no effective treatment, and no vaccine. Because people may be infected but asymptomatic, they may unwittingly infect others.” S. Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, 590 U.S. —-, 140 S. Ct. 1613, 2020 WL 2813056 at *1 (May 29, 2020) (Roberts, C.J., concurring).

On April 2, 2020, in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe established a comprehensive COVID-19 response plan, including Health Safety checkpoints to monitor the entry of individuals onto the Tribe’s Reservation. These Health Safety Checkpoints have allowed the Tribe to effectively track individuals that have returned to the Reservation from hotspots throughout both the state of South Dakota and other off-Reservation locations and to keep the Tribe’s rate of infection significantly below the rate for South Dakota at large. To date, the Tribe has had no COVID-19 deaths.

News coverage here, and the press release can be seen here.

DOI Consultation Notice on DOI Reorganization

Sarah M Donnelly

Download(PDF): Tribal Listening Sessions on E.O. 13871: Reorganization of the Executive Branch

Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Michael S. Black, invites Tribal leaders to attend one of the listed listening sessions to provide input on improving “efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability” at the Department of the Interior.

DATES

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

Sarah M Donnelly2 Comments

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.

United States Accepts Concurrent Jurisdiction Over Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

Leah Jurss

Department of Justice Press Release here.

The decision will take effect on Jan. 1, 2017.  Tribal, state and county prosecutors and law enforcement agencies will also continue to have criminal jurisdiction on the reservation.

“We believe this decision – made after a careful review of the tribe’s application and the facts on the ground – will strengthen public safety and the criminal justice system serving the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe,” said Deputy Attorney General Yates.  “This is another step forward in the Justice Department’s commitment to serve and protect American Indian and Alaska Native communities, to deal with them on a government-to-government basis and to fulfill the historic promise of the Tribal Law and Order Act.  Strong law enforcement partnerships with the Tribe, as well as state and local counterparts, will be essential to the success of this effort.”

Mille Lacs is the second tribe to be granted concurrent jurisdiction under the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010. White Earth received concurrent jurisdiction status in 2013.

Indian Country Investigation & Prosecutions Report to Congress

Sarah M Donnelly

Link to DOJ report for 2014 here.

Highlights:

  • FBI’s CY 2014 statistics are similar to 2013. The majority of Indian country criminal investigations opened by the FBI were referred for prosecution.
  • The majority of Indian country criminal cases opened by the USAOs were
    prosecuted.
  • The most common reason FBI Indian country investigations were closed administratively without referral for prosecution was that the investigation concluded that no federal crime had occurred. Analysis of CY 2014 data indicates that 657 FBI Indian country investigations were closed administratively without referral to a prosecuting authority — approximately 32% of the investigations that were opened. Reasons for non-referral include deaths determined to be the result of natural causes, accident, or suicide (i.e., non-homicides; 20% in CY 2014 of all investigations not referred), and insufficient evidence of criminal activity (21% in CY 2014).
  • All but 37 of the 148 death investigations that the FBI closed administratively in CY 2014 were closed because the FBI established that the death was due to causes other than homicide; i.e., accidents, suicide, or death due to natural causes.
  • In 2014, the USAOs resolved more cases than in 2013. In 2014, the USAOs resolved 535 more cases than in 2013. A total of 3,930 Indian country matters were resolved in CY 2014, as compared to 3,395 cases in 2013.
  • The USAO declination rate remained steady. USAO data for CY 2014 show that 34% (989) of all Indian country submissions for prosecution (2,941) were declined. In CY 2013, USAOs declined approximately 34% (853) of all (2,542) Indian country submissions for prosecution. USAO data for CY 2012 indicate that just under 31% (954) of all Indian country submissions for prosecution (2,542) were declined.
  • The most common reason for declination by USAOs was insufficient evidence (59.6% in CY 2014, 56% in CY 2013, and 52% in CY 2012). The next most common reason for declination by USAOs was referral to another prosecuting authority (16.3% in CY 2014, 21% in CY 2013, and 24% in CY 2012).

NAICJA Board of Directors Unanimously Support AG and ILOC Reports

Sarah M Donnelly

Resolution No. 2015-01
Resolution No. 2015-02

The National American Indian Court Judges Association are supporting the Indian Law and Order Commission’s November 2013 report entitled “A Roadmap for Making Native America Safer,” which “advocates for tribal justice systems to have the ability to fully express their sovereignty by opting out of the current jurisdictional maze, and exercise criminal jurisdiction over all persons without any sentencing limitations, including juveniles.”  However, NAICJA prefers that all individuals charged with crimes under this enhanced tribal jurisdiction be provided with civil rights protections equivalent to those guaranteed by the Indian Civil Rights Act, instead of the U.S. Constitution.

NAICJA is also supporting the November 2014 report from the Attorney General’s advisory committee on American Indian/Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence entitled “Ending Violence So Children Can Thrive” which “calls for the restoration of the inherent sovereignty of tribes to assert full criminal jurisdiction over all persons who commit crimes against AI/AN children in Indian country.”