{"id":30655,"date":"2021-08-19T14:57:24","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T19:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/tribal-police-can-detain-non-tribal-suspects-supreme-court-rules\/"},"modified":"2021-08-19T14:57:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T19:57:24","slug":"tribal-police-can-detain-non-tribal-suspects-supreme-court-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/tribal-police-can-detain-non-tribal-suspects-supreme-court-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribal police can detain non-tribal suspects, Supreme Court rules"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON \u2013 Tribal police have the authority to\u00a0<\/span>detain non-Natives traveling through reservation land<\/span><\/a>\u00a0if the officer has a reasonable belief that the suspect violated state or federal law, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>unanimous ruling<\/span><\/a>\u00a0overturned lower courts that said a Crow police officer should not have held a nontribal member who was found to have drugs and weapons in his truck. The Supreme Court said that the lower courts\u2019 rulings would \u201cmake it difficult for tribes to protect themselves against ongoing threats.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Calls seeking comment Tuesday from Arizona tribes and tribal police agencies were not immediately returned. But advocates welcomed the ruling that one said addresses \u201ca crucial issue of law enforcement and safety in Indian Country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Supreme Court got it right, and upheld tribal authority to do the bare minimum of what any police force should be able to do to protect their homeland and the public safety of members of the community,\u201d said Heather Whiteman Runs Him, director of the Tribal Justice Center at the University of Arizona.<\/span><\/p>\n

The case began early on the morning of February 26, 2016, when Crow Police Department Officer James Saylor noticed a truck stopped on the side of U.S. Route 212 on reservation land in southern Montana. Saylor stopped, thinking the driver might need assistance.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Saylor approached the driver\u2019s side of the truck, driver Joshua Cooley rolled down, then rolled back up, his window. When he rolled it down again at Saylor\u2019s request, the officer noticed that Cooley, who \u201cappeared to be non-native,\u201d had \u201cwatery, bloodshot eyes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After he noticed two semi-automatic rifles on the front seat, Saylor asked Cooley to get out of the truck for a pat-down search and called for assistance from tribal and county officers. While waiting for them to arrive, Saylor returned to turn off the still-running truck and spotted a glass pipe and a bag containing methamphetamine, according to court documents.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the other officers arrived, including a federal Bureau of Indian Affairs officer, they told Saylor to \u201cseize any contraband in plain view,\u201d which led to the discovery of more methamphetamine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indianz.Com<\/a> Audio:\u00a0<\/span>U.S. Supreme Court \u2013 United States v. Joshua James Cooley \u2013 March 23, 2021<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Cooley was indicted in federal district court on drug and gun charges, but moved to have the drug evidence suppressed. He argued that Saylor did not have the authority as a tribal police officer to investigate \u201cnon-apparent violations of state or federal law by a non-Indian on a public right-of-way crossing the reservation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The district court agreed, and a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals\u00a0<\/span>upheld that ruling<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in March 2019, noting that Saylor made no attempt to determine whether Cooley was a tribal member or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

The full 9th Circuit refused to reconsider the ruling, which one\u00a0<\/span>dissenting judge<\/span><\/a>\u00a0said would \u201cblow \u2026 a gaping hole in tribal law enforcement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But the Supreme Court said Tuesday that while its previous rulings support \u201cthe general proposition that the inherent sovereign powers of an Indian tribe do not extend to the activities of nonmembers of the tribe \u2026 it is not an absolute rule.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Justice Stephen Breyer, who wrote the opinion for the unanimous court, noted that there are two exceptions to that rule, one of which \u201cfit like a glove\u201d in this case. Those are actions to protect the health or welfare of the tribe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo deny a tribal police officer authority to search and detain for a reasonable time any person he or she believes may commit or has committed a crime would make it difficult for tribes to protect themselves against ongoing threats,\u201d Breyer wrote. \u201cSuch threats may be posed by, for instance, non-Indian drunk drivers, transporters of contraband, or other criminal offenders operating on roads within the boundaries of a tribal reservation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert Miller, a professor at Arizona State University\u2019s Sandra Day O\u2019Connor College of Law, said the high court\u2019s ruling is \u201cimportant and welcomed.\u201d He said it is the first time the court has interpreted the health and welfare exception to its limits on tribal sovereignty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision will be very popular among people who support Indian sovereignty,\u201d Miller said. \u201cMillions of non-Indians live on reservation land, so this is a crucial issue of law enforcement and safety in Indian Country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Whiteman Runs Him, a member of the Crow Tribe, said there are typically only two to four officers to patrol the 2.5 million acre reservation, which has been hit hard by the methamphetamine epidemic. The court \u201capplied common sense\u201d in its ruling, which will put more tools in the hands of tribal police officers to fight drug and human trafficking, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability of law enforcement to respond to crises is really a matter of life and death to many tribal citizens and too many non-Indian citizens living on or traveling through the reservation,\u201d Whiteman Runs Him said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Tribal police can detain non-tribal suspects, Supreme Court rules<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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WASHINGTON \u2013 Tribal police have the authority to\u00a0detain non-Natives traveling through reservation land\u00a0if the officer has a reasonable belief that the suspect violated state or federal law, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The\u00a0unanimous ruling\u00a0overturned lower courts that said a Crow police officer should not have held a nontribal member who <\/p>\n

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