Indian Tribes Have Extraterritorial Jurisdiction

"Indian tribes have the inherent sovereign authority to try and prosecute members of the basis of tribal membership even if criminal conduct occurs beyond a tribe's Indian country."

 

Kelsey v. Pope, 2016 BL 797, 6th Cir., No. 14-1537, 1/5/16

    One of the council members of the Little River Band of Ottowa Indians sexually assaulted one of the Band's employees at a tribal event. Even though the attack did not occur on reservation land, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the tribal court may try the defendant.

    The court's opinion said that "Indian tribes have the inherent sovereign authority to try and prosecute members on the basis of tribal membership even if criminal conduct occurs beyond a tribe's Indian country."

    The court cited the US Supreme Court's decisions in United States v. Wheeler (1978), and Duro v. Reina (1989), as well as the Ninth Circuit's decision in Native Village of Venetie et al v. Alaska (1991), which indicated that tribes possess sovereignty over both their members and their territory. The court also added that the inherent sovereignty of Indian tribes predates the Constitution, and is neither derived from nor protected by that document.

http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/Kelsey_v_Pope_No_141537_2016_BL_797_6th_Cir_Jan_05_2016_Court_Opi?1453142263