Here is the unpublished opinion in United States v. Bearcomesout.
Ninth Circuit Affirms Major Crimes Act Manslaughter Conviction
Here is the unpublished opinion in United States v. Bearcomesout.
United States v. Bearcomesout
Ninth Circuit Briefs in U.S. v. Bearcomesout — Federal Defenders Seek End of the Dual Sovereignty Exception for Indian Tribes
Here are the briefs in United States v. Bearcomesout:
An excerpt from the opening brief:
Because the Northern Cheyenne Constitution cedes almost unfettered authority to the federal government, Ms. Bearcomesout’s prior conviction in Tribal Court bars subsequent federal prosecution in U.S. District Court as a violation of the Double Jeopardy clause. What is more, the frequency of litigation attacking identical and successive prosecutions says something about the inherent unfairness and counter intuitive legal analysis imposed on what seems to be a simple constitutional prohibition. Perhaps it is time to eschew the ‘separate sovereign’ concept altogether; because the harm it is intended to proscribe is hardly served by current separate sovereigns doctrine. See Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, 579 U.S ___, 136 S.Ct. 1863, 1877 (2016) (Ginsberg, J., concurring).
Federal Court Rejects Challenge to Major Crimes Act Conviction, Defendant Argued Justice Thomas’ View of Indian Law
Here are the materials in United States v. Bearcomesout (D. Mont.):
An excerpt:
Citing decades of “schizophrenic” case law, Bearcomesout argues that the law has evolved such that the Northern Cheyenne Tribe’s concept of self-governance and sovereignty has disappeared. As a result, Bearcomesout argues that the Tribe is “subject to the external whim of the United States” which inherently extinguishes the tribe’s sovereignty. Because the Tribe is not sovereign, Bearcomesout argues that her prosecution in Northern Cheyenne Tribal Court was in essence a federal prosecution, in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause.
The obvious disagreement about the state of tribal sovereignty among Supreme Court justices contained in various dissents and concurrences over the years unquestionably creates uncertainty and doubt about whether the term “independent sovereign” still appropriately applies to Indian tribes. Nevertheless, as recently as June of this year, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the rule from Wheeler and its progeny that tribal sovereignty continues to exist, at least as it relates to Double Jeopardy….
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