Minnesota Court of Appeals Holds State Court Has No Civil Confinement Authority over Minnesota Chippewa Members

Here is the opinion in In the Matter of the Civil Confinement of Johnson.

The court’s syllabus:

The state does not have jurisdiction pursuant to Public Law 280 to civilly commit an enrolled member of a federally recognized Indian tribe as a sexually dangerous person under the Minnesota Commitment and Treatment Act.  But in the absence of express congressional consent, the state does have jurisdiction to civilly commit an enrolled member of a federally recognized Indian tribe as a sexually dangerous person under the commitment and treatment act where, as here, federal law does not preempt state jurisdiction and exceptional circumstances exist.