Native American Law Report articles from May 2005

Native American Law Report archives from May 2005

The Indian gaming industry.(Slants & Trends)(more regulation)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... THE INDIAN GAMING INDUSTRY may be headed for more regulation in the near future. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, declared during a hearing last month that he planned to reexamine the Indian Gaming...

Sovereignty day.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... SOVEREIGNTY DAY was celebrated April 25 by the Navajo Nation in commemoration of the tribe's landmark court victory in Kerr-McGee v. Navajo Tribe. In the 1985 case, the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged the right of Indian tribes to tax...

The Narragansett Indians.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... THE NARRAGANSETT INDIANS are considering reopening the smoke shop that was shut down in 2003 after Rhode Island state troopers arrested tribal officials in a scuffle and seized cigarettes being sold illegally because they were tax free. In...

State violated tribe's sovereignty, but tribe guilty of 'criminal offense'.(Narragansett Indian Tribe v. State of Rhode Island )
May 1, 2005... The state of Rhode Island violated a tribe's sovereignty when state troopers raided the tribe's reservation two years ago to enforce state tax laws, according to a federal appeals court this month. The May 12 ruling by the First Circuit Court...

High court declines to rehear case on taxing of former reservation lands.(City of Sherrill v. Oneida Nation )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a request by the Oneida Indian Nation to rehear the taxation case that it decided in March. The case posed the question of whether the state of New York's property taxes could apply to tribal lands that were...

S.D. tribe, company reach settlement over hog farm expansion, impacts.(South Dakota, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Sun Prairie v. Martin )
May 1, 2005... A new court-approved agreement could help ease a tribe's six-year legal dispute over the safety and expansion of hog farms on its reservation in South Dakota. Sun Prairie v. Martin (No. CIV. 02-3030 RHB) Ever since the Rosebud Sioux...

Court begins hearings on IT security, experts warn of risks to systems.(Cobell v. Norton)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Entering a new phase of the nine-year Cobell v. Norton litigation, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia this month began hearings on the security of government information technology (IT) systems that house Indian trust account...

Appeals court denies tribal claim to former army ammunition plant site.(Shawnee Tribe v. United States )
May 1, 2005... A federal appeals court earlier this month rejected a tribe's claim to a 9,065-acre lot of land in Kansas that hosts a former Army ammunition plant. The Shawnee Tribe argued that the former military installation, along with various other...

High court rejects mascot case involving burning of 'Chief Wahoo'.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case involving five protestors arrested for burning a Cleveland Indians logo in effigy in front of the Indians stadium. The five individuals in 1998 set fire to a 3-foot figure of "Chief...

State of Alaska Law Enforcement System does not deny natives equal protection.(Case Law Abstracts)
May 1, 2005... Alaska Inter-Tribal Council v. State of Alaska, Department of Public Safety Supreme Court of Alaska, No. S-10844 (April 15, 2005) The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled that separate state law enforcement systems for "on-road" and...

Sentencing limit for 'any one offense' applies to multiple charges, court says.(Spears v. Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians)
May 1, 2005... Spears v. Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians U.S. District Court, D. Minn., No. 03-CV-2434 (March 30, 2005) A federal district court has ruled that a sentencing limit for "any one offense" under the Indian Civil Rights Act applies...

Tribe's off-reservation van purchase subject to state sales tax, court says.(Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Indians v. Bridges)
May 1, 2005... Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Indians v. Bridges U.S. District Court, M.D. La., No. 03-881-A (April 15, 2005) A federal district court has ruled that a motor vehicle delivered by an off-reservation dealership to an Indian reservation was...

Appeals court rules tribal enrollment not necessary for 'Indian' status.(United States v. Pemberton)
May 1, 2005... United States v. Pemberton U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Cir., No. 03-1302 (April 22, 2005) A federal appeals court has ruled that for purposes of federal criminal statutes, tribal enrollment is not necessary for "Indian" status. ...

State constitution against gaming does not block state-tribe compact.(Case Law Abstracts)
May 1, 2005... Dalton v. Pataki Court of Appeals of New York, No. 51 (May 3, 2005) The highest court of New York has ruled that a state constitutional prohibition on commercial gambling was not an impediment to negotiation of a tribal-state...

Tribe invokes sovereign immunity to dispute state discrimination case.(Aroostook Band of Micmacs v. Ryan)
May 1, 2005... Aroostook Band of Micmacs v. Ryan U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Cir., No. 04-157 (April 13, 2005) A federal appeals court has allowed an Indian tribe to challenge a state discrimination investigation on the grounds of sovereign...

Tribal enrollment eligibility not needed to invoke ICWA requirements, court says.(Case Law Abstracts)(Indian Child Welfare Association)
May 1, 2005... In re S. B. Court of Appeal of California, 5th Dist., No. F046499 (April 26, 2005) A California court has ruled that evidence of eligibility for enrollment in a tribe is not necessary to invoke the notice requirement of the Indian...

Federal court declines to intervene in tribal dispute over member rolls.(Arviso v. Norton, The Rincon San Louiseno Band of Mission Indians )
May 1, 2005... Arviso v. Norton U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Cir., No. 03-56893 (April 27, 2005) A federal court has refused to get involved in a tribal membership dispute, saying any intervention would violate tribal sovereignty. A group of...

Federal judge rejects tribal plea to halt Nevada nuclear waste dump.(Environment)(Western Shoshone National Council)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A federal judge has dismissed an Indian tribe's request to put a stop to a nuclear waste dump in Nevada. The Western Shoshone National Council wants to halt plans for the national nuclear waste dump, on grounds that the project violates a...

Massachusetts governor repeals law banning American Indians from Boston.(Archaic Law)(Thomas Menino )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The Massachusetts state governor has signed a bill May 20 to repeal an archaic law that prohibits American Indians from entering the city of Boston. The law, which dates back about 330 years, has been the subject of an eight-year battle...