tribal courts – Page 136

Excessive drinking cost the U.S. economy $223.5 billion in 2006, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2009, 10,839 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for roughly one-third of all traffic-related deaths in the U.S. that year.

Which brings me to Cass County District Judge John Smith and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Tribal Court Associate Judge Korey Wahwassuck.

The jurists, from their upbringing and from handling cases, were long aware of the devastating impact of alcoholism on a good number of county residents, particularly on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation.

They realized that business as usual — locking up DWI offenders only to see them show up in court again and again for another offense — was not doing anybody any good.

So six years ago, Smith, Wahwassuck, probation officials and others established a first-of-its-kind joint DWI “wellness court.” They weathered initial pushback and resolved overlapping jurisdictional issues involving child custody and other matters.

Update in Dish Network v. Tewa: Tribal Court Exhaustion Case

August 1, 2012August 16, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in the pending motion to dismiss:

Hopi Motion to Dismiss

Dish Network Response

UPDATE (8/16/12): Hopi Reply

The opinion and other materials in Dish Network’s motion for a preliminary injunction in a similar case out of North Dakota are here.

Nebraska COA Decides ICWA Tribal Court Transfer Case

August 1, 2012August 1, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion.

An excerpt:

Even if we had not found that Sellers failed to object to the parents’ motion to transfer in the county court, his assignment of error has no merit. He argues that the court abused its discretion by ordering a transfer to the tribal court when good cause was shown not to transfer the case. But the burden to prove good cause was on Sellers. See In re Interest of Leslie S. et al., 17 Neb. App. 828, 832, 770 N.W.2d 678, 682 (2009) (“party opposing a transfer of jurisdiction to the tribal courts has the burden of establishing that good cause not to transfer the matter exists”). And per our standard of review, we review the county court’s decision for abuse of discretion. There was testimony that the tribal court could convene for any necessary hearings in Hall County. Indeed, commentary to the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ guidelines specifically referred to the ability of tribal courts to alleviate hardship on the parties and witnesses “by having the court come to the witnesses” or by appointing members of the tribe who live outside of the reservation as tribal judges. Guidelines for State Courts; Indian Child Custody Proceedings, 44 Fed. Reg. 67,584, 67,591 (Nov. 26, 1979) (not codified). Furthermore, the tribal representative testified that the tribal court could always receive testimony from witnesses in Hall County via telephone or documentary evidence. Given this evidence, the county court did not abuse its discretion in finding that Sellers failed to prove that there was good cause to deny the transfer based on hardship to potential witnesses.