And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 13:44:59 -0700
From: "Victor Rocha" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: tribal boundaries
Officials: State law enforcement won't be bound by tribal boundaries
By Associated Press, 09/12/99 14:36
WILLIAMSBURG, Mich. (AP) The Turtle Creek Casino sits on land set aside for the Grand
Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. But the tribe is welcoming law
enforcement by the state of Michigan.
Questions about jurisdiction over Indian land go back more than 120 years, when
federal courts first ruled that those lands are sovereign. Things have become more
complicated with the recent expansion of Indian gaming and the number of non-Indians
committing crimes at casinos.
''It got complicated because we weren't used to dealing with this type of issue,
because we weren't used to dealing with federal property,'' Grand Traverse County
Prosecutor Dennis LaBelle said.
In recent weeks, LaBelle has researched the issue and reached this conclusion: ''As
far as the sheriff's department and the state police and the prosecutors are
concerned, sovereignty is not relevant to the determination of whether we have
jurisdiction.''
To LaBelle, that means police from both agencies can investigate crime and make
arrests at Turtle Creek. He said his office would handle some prosecutions and others
would be referred to federal or tribal court depending on whether the parties involved
were Indian, non-Indian or both.
''It's a matrix, it's very complicated,'' conceded William Gregory, the band's tribal
prosecutor, told the Traverse City Record-Eagle in a report Sunday. ''It was a problem
because we couldn't get anyone to take care of non-Indians who were committing crimes
at Turtle Creek,'' he said.
John Petoskey, the Grand Traverse Band's legal counsel, welcomed LaBelle's decision.
''It is a turning point,'' Petoskey said. ''This is a good position taken by Dennis
LaBelle because he's the chief law enforcement officer of Grand Traverse County and it
clarifies his understanding.''
Under federal law, state and county officials don't have authority to prosecute crimes
on Indian land when either the victim or suspect is Indian. But according to a 1946
federal court decision unearthed by LaBelle, state authorities have jurisdiction over
crimes involving non-Indians on tribal land.
Property crimes, such as damage to a Turtle Creek slot machine, are federal offenses
and wouldn't be investigated by state or county police. But if someone broke the
handle off the slot machine ''and hit someone over the head over it, then we're
interested because that's assault,'' LaBelle said.
According to records kept by Turtle Creek security officers, the crimes committed
there over the past two years haven't been particularly serious.
In August, a 70-year-old woman was charged with assault after allegedly slapping a
60-year-old woman twice in the face in a dispute over a handicapper parking space. The
older woman was banned for life from the casino, according to LaBelle's office.
''It's nothing that couldn't happen at the Grand Traverse Mall,'' he said. ''Some of
them are kind of interesting because they are incidents that are entirely unique to a
casino.''
Casino security officers sometimes find marijuana in the restrooms or spilled on
floors, and have had to break up fights between customers. In September 1998, a man
was told he would have to check his guitar at the entrance, became upset and told a
guard, ''Here it is, check it.'' He then smashed it against a wall.
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/255/region/Officials_State_law_enforcemen:.s
html
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine
of international copyright law.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE
http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
