Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: 1790s, 14 the federal statutory scheme as it existed in 1861, expressly disavowed federal criminal jurisdiction over Indian-on-Indian crimes within Indian country.15 It was also well-established that states had no authority for extending their laws into tribal territories.16 Even as late as 1883, the United States Supreme Court validated the continuance of exclusive tribal jurisdiction over intratribal crimes, despite attempts by federal officials to extend federal criminal laws into Indian country.17 In 1885, with the passage of the Major Crimes Act (MCA), 18 Congress extended federal criminal jurisdiction into Indian country, providing for the first time federal prosecutorial power over Indians independent of whether the victim of the crime be Indian or non-Indian.19 The MCA provided for federal prosecution over certain crimes but did not purport to authorize state jurisdiction.20 Instead, the passage of the MCA in concert with the previous federal statutory scheme of federal jurisdiction over interracial crimes set up a system whereby Indian country crimes would be prosecuted by federal or tribal officials, or both.Numerous cases within the federal system uphold the right of the tribe and the right of the federal government to prosecute an individual, without double jeopardy concerns, based on the fact that both sovereigns are exercising independent sovereign powers.21 During this time period, the only instances in which states were authorized to exercise criminal jurisdiction inside Indian country were those offenses in which both the perpetrator and the victim were non-Indian.22 State jurisdiction in those instances was judicially sanctioned
Source: Kansas Law Review
DOI: 10.17161/1808.20166
Authors: Francis, John J., Leeds, Stacy L., Organick, Aliza, Exum, Jelani Jefferson
Institutions: Washburn University, University of Toledo
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3121543778