Filing a Complaint

Special Circumstances - "NATIVE AMERICANS"

Through the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 (ICRA), Congress statutorily imposed on tribal governments provisions similar to those found in the Bill of Rights. Commonly known as the Indian Bill of Rights, the ICRA provides protections similar, but not identical, to those provided by the U.S. Constitution.
Tribal forums are available to enforce rights created by the ICRA. Federal courts do not oversee tribal compliance with the ICRA, except in cases of habeas corpus.

The American Indian Religious Freedom Act declares that a lack of clear and adequate legal protection for the religious use of peyote by Indians might serve to stigmatize Indian tribes and cultures and increase the risk that they would be exposed to discriminatory treatment. On that basis, the act preserves Indians’ rights to the sacramental use of peyote.

Likewise, a 1994 presidential memorandum recognizes the sacred place of eagle feathers in Native American culture and religious practices and provides easier access to scarce eagle carcasses and parts.

Civil rights laws passed by Congress protect all citizens, including Native Americans and non-Native Americans. Therefore, any Native American can bring a discrimination complaint if he or she suffers discrimination by the federal, state, or local governments, or individuals on account of race, color, creed, religion, sex, or national origin with respect to housing, employment, commercial transactions, or access to public accommodations.

Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968

Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 (25 U.S.C. §§ 1301-03)
§ 1301. Definitions
For purposes of this subchapter, the term -

1. ''Indian tribe'' means any tribe, band, or other group of Indians subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and recognized as possessing powers of self-government;
2. ''powers of self-government'' means and includes all governmental powers possessed by an Indian tribe, executive, legislative, and judicial, and all offices, bodies, and tribunals by and through which they are executed, including courts of Indian offenses; and means the inherent power of Indian tribes, hereby recognized and affirmed, to exercise criminal jurisdiction over all Indians;
3. ''Indian court'' means any Indian tribal court or court of Indian offense.

§ 1302. Constitutional rights
No Indian tribe in exercising powers of self-government shall -

1. make or enforce any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition for a redress of grievances;
2. violate the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable search and seizures, nor issue warrants, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized;
3. subject any person for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy;
4. compel any person in any criminal case to be a witness against himself;
5. take any private property for a public use without just compensation;
6. deny to any person in a criminal proceeding the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and at his own expense to have the assistance of counsel for his defense;
7. require excessive bail, impose excessive fines, inflict cruel and unusual punishments, and in no event impose for conviction of any one offense any penalty or punishment greater than imprisonment for a term of one year and [1] a fine of $5,000, or both;
8. deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws or deprive any person of liberty or property without due process of law;
9. pass any bill of attainder or ex post facto law; or
10. deny to any person accused of an offense punishable by imprisonment the right, upon request, to a trial by jury of not less than six persons.

§ 1303. Habeas corpus
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall be available to any person, in a court of the United States, to test the legality of his detention by order of an Indian tribe.