They are generally tribes with a small number of members or limited resources. Today there are five regional Courts of Indian Offenses that serve 16 tribes in Colorado, Oklahoma, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. As part of that, the government has encouraged tribes to create their own tribal courts, and the number of Courts of Indian Offenses has steadily decreased. Prosecutors are federal officers answerable to federal authorities, not tribal authorities.įederal policy toward Native Americans shifted in the mid-1930s, however, to emphasize a greater respect for tribes’ native ways. Courts of Indian Offenses were created in the late 1800s during a period when the federal government’s policy toward Native Americans was to encourage assimilation. The case before the justices involves a tribal court system that has become increasingly rare over the last century.
The Biden administration had argued for that result as had several states, which said barring federal prosecutions in similar cases could allow defendants to escape harsh sentences. “Denezpi’s second prosecution therefore did not offend the Double Jeopardy Clause.” Because the Tribe and the Federal Government are distinct sovereigns, those” offenses are not the same, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for a majority of the court. “Denezpi’s single act led to separate prosecutions for violations of a tribal ordinance and a federal statute. He said the Constitution’s “Double Jeopardy” clause should have barred the second prosecution. The man was later prosecuted in federal court and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Under federal law Courts of Indian Offenses can only impose sentences of generally up to a year. He served nearly five months in jail after being charged with assault and battery in what is called a Court of Indian Offenses, a court that deals exclusively with alleged Native American offenders. The case before the justices involved a Navajo Nation member, Merle Denezpi, accused of rape. The 6-3 ruling is in keeping with an earlier ruling from the 1970s that said the same about a more widely used type of tribal court. The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Native Americans prosecuted in certain tribal courts can also be prosecuted based on the same incident in federal court, which can result in longer sentences.
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