Indianz reports that the district court judge in South Dakota will adopt the report and recommendation of the Magistrate in United States v. Erickson (dct-order-adopting-rr-in-erickson-case). Here are the rest of the materials.
Here is the Tenth Circuit’s decision in United States v. Friday — us-v-friday-ca10 (thanks to Sarah Krakoff for the heads-up).
Judge McConnell wrote the decision. Here is our previous commentary on the case (here). Guess no circuit split….
Coverage from Indianz on this case (here).
Here are the materials:
house-opening-brief
new-mexico-answering-brief
house-reply-brief
ca10-opinion-gordon-v-house
From Indianz:
Three men who created a fake tribe at an Arby’s restaurant are guilty of violating federal racketeering laws, a judge ruled last week.
The “Wampanoag Nation, Tribe of Grayhead, Wolf Band” and its founders filed numerous legal claims against officials in Utah. The targets responded with a countersuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations [...]
Here is the article from the ABA Judicial Division Record — inside-the-maze.
This story highlights the problem of violence against women in Indian Country, with the Amnesty Report (available here) as a jumping off point.
From the Billings Gazette (Part I is here):
Three days a week, a dozen or so defendants in criminal cases appear before a Crow Tribal Court judge.
They could be charged with anything from a traffic violation to murder, and they could be there for a five-minute guilty plea or a weeklong trial. It’s all in the [...]
Here are the materials, in a case involving actions of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s law enforcement as arresting officers:
erickson-motion-to-suppress
us-response-to-erickson-motion-to-suppress
supplement-to-motion-to-suppress
us-supplemental-response
report-recommendation-us-v-erickson
rosebud-sioux-tribe-ordinance-91-05
The district court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed an indictment under the Adam Walsh Act because Congress was unauthorized to enact the statute under the Interstate Commerce Clause. The case is United States v. Powers. Doubtful it would apply to Indian Country, but interesting nonetheless.
powers-motion-to-dismiss-indictment
us-response-to-powers-motion
us-v-powers-dct-opinion
In consolidated cases, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the constitutionality of prosecuting American Indians under the Bald and Golden Eagles Protection Act, rejecting a challenge under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. A similar case is under review by the Tenth Circuit (United States v. Friday).
The Ninth Circuit applied a 2003 precedent, United States v. Antoine, upholding [...]
This case concerns a non-Indian’s driver license, which was suspended after failing a sobriety test at a checkpoint controlled jointly by state and tribal law enforcement, just outside the border of the Prairie Band Potawatomi reservation. Unluckily for the appellant, the state and the tribe had a law enforcement cooperative agreement.
Here is the opinion.
Here are [...]
