The Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a case that arose from an incident at the casino owned by the
Meskwaki Nation.
Tribal police arrested Jennifer Stanton, who is non-Indian, at the
Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel and referred her to state court for trespassing, possessing drug paraphernalia and violating a no-contact order. But the charges were thrown out by a judge in Tama County, who cited a new federal law addressed jurisdiction on the
Meskwaki Settlement.
On December 11, 2018, President Donald Trump signed
H.R.1074 into law. The measure
repealed a termination-era statute that subjected tribal citizens and other Native Americans to
prosecution in state court.
A water tower on the
Meskwaki Settlement in Iowa. Photo: Billwhittaker
Stanton was arrested just two days later. Since she is non-Indian, the state and the federal government told the Iowa Supreme Court that the charges must be reinstated because the new federal law only applies to Native Americans.
“Congress did not intend to change the jurisdiction on a crime such as this, where a tribal officer presents charges involving a non-Indian to a state court,”
Ann O'Connell Adams, an Assistant to the
Solicitor General of the United States, said during the
49-minute hearing in Des Moines, Iowa Public Radio reported. “If it’s only non-Indians involved in the crime that takes place, the state has exclusive jurisdiction over those crimes.”
The tribe also believes that the charges must be reinstated or else non-Indians will not be held accountable for “lawlessness," Iowa Public Radio reported. A brief was submitted as part of the case.
“If the decision of the magistrate is allowed to stand it will create a class of criminal offenses on the Meskwaki Settlement over which no government will have criminal jurisdiction,” the tribe's brief stated, according to Iowa Public Radio.
The tribe is unable to prosecute non-Indians for almost every crime as a result of the
U.S. Supreme Court decision in
Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe. H.R.1074 does not address the 1978 ruling.
The federal government might be able to prosecute non-Indians on the settlement but resources and priorities mean that not every case is followed through. U.S. law also may not cover every situation, leaving it to the state to exercise jurisdiction.
The case is
State of Iowa v. Jessica Rae Stanton, No. 19-0177
Read More on the Story
Iowa Justices Hear A Case Questioning Jurisdiction On Tribal Land
(Iowa Public Radio July 10, 2019)
Iowa Attorney General challenges Tama Co. Magistrate order
(The Tama News-Herald / The Toledo Chronicle March 1, 2019)
Tama Co. Magistrate throws out Meskwaki Police charges
(The Tama News-Herald / The Toledo Chronicle January 9, 2019)
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