{"id":12420,"date":"2021-06-04T13:48:02","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T17:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=12420"},"modified":"2021-06-04T13:56:00","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T17:56:00","slug":"cronkite-news-supreme-court-finally-got-it-right-on-tribal-sovereignty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/06\/04\/cronkite-news-supreme-court-finally-got-it-right-on-tribal-sovereignty\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Supreme Court finally ‘got it right’ on tribal sovereignty"},"content":{"rendered":"\"supremecourt\"
The U.S. Supreme Court. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Tribal police can detain non-tribal suspects, Supreme Court rules<\/div>\r\n
Friday, June 4, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Brooke Newman<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON – Tribal police have the authority to detain non-Natives traveling through reservation land<\/a> if the officer has a reasonable belief that the suspect violated state or federal law, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

<\/p>\r\nThe unanimous ruling<\/a> overturned 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’ rulings would “make it difficult for tribes to protect themselves against ongoing threats.”<\/span>

<\/p>\r\nCalls seeking comment Tuesday from Arizona tribes and tribal police agencies were not immediately returned. But advocates welcomed the ruling that one said addresses “a crucial issue of law enforcement and safety in Indian Country.”

<\/p>\r\n“The 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,” said Heather Whiteman Runs Him, director of the Tribal Justice Center at the University of Arizona.

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ICYMI: The U.S. Supreme Court actually sided with tribal sovereignty for once! Learn more about the inherent power of tribes to stop and investigate non-Indians from attorney Elizabeth Reese. @yunpovi #SupremeCourt #TribalSovereignty #SCOTUSBlog https:\/\/t.co\/82rxsPclBK<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\nThe 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.

<\/p>\r\nAs Saylor approached the driver’s side of the truck, driver Joshua Cooley rolled down, then rolled back up, his window. When he rolled it down again at Saylor’s request, the officer noticed that Cooley, who “appeared to be non-native,” had “watery, bloodshot eyes.”

<\/p>\r\nAfter 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.

<\/p>\r\nWhen the other officers arrived, including a federal Bureau of Indian Affairs officer, they told Saylor to “seize any contraband in plain view,” which led to the discovery of more methamphetamine.

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