Civil Rights in Indian Country

Straightup Warbonnet

Civil Rights

Civil rights are the protections and privileges of personal liberty given to all citizens by law. Civil rights are distinguished from "human rights" or "natural rights"-civil rights are rights that are bestowed by nations on those within their territial boundries (ex:the Blackfeet Reservation or ones natural self), while natural or human rights that many scholars claim ought to belong to all people. For example: the philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) argued that the natural rights of life, liberty, and property should be converted into civil rights and protected by the sovereign state as an aspect of the social contract. Others have argued that people acquire rights as an inalienable gift from the deity or at a time of nature before governments were formed.

–source (wikipedia encyclopedia)

History in E.E.O.C

(U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)-ensuring the promise of opportunity 41 years

For 41 years now, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (E.E.O.C or Commission) has steadfastly pursueed its congressionally mandated mission to eliminate discrimination in employment. To say the Commission has come a long way since opening its doors for business on July 2, 1965, is an understatement-particularly when one considers that E.E.O.C had to set out on its mission equipped with little more than a moral compass. When it began in 1965, E.E.O.C possessed virtually no enforcement powers; E.E.O.C's staff was small and inexperienced; employers, unions, and even judges were resistant to the new law; and there was little judical precedent as guidance on even basic concepts. (Now this sounds like the Montana Indian Civil Righs Commission)

Enforcement Powers: Congresstional Powers which include a number of Amendments from the United States Constitution. example: "The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation," is used with slight variations, in Amendments 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 23, 24, and 26.

Who has the power in the United States?

The Constitution grants numerous powers to Congress. These include the powers: to levy and collect taxes in order to pay debts, provide for common defense and general welfare of the U.S.; to borrow money on the credit of the U.S.; to regulate commerce with other nations and between the states; to establish a uniform rule of naturalization; to coin money and regulate its value; provide for punishment of counterfeiting; establish post offices and roads, promote progress of science, create courts inferior to the Supreme Court, define and punish piracies and felonies, declare war, raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, make rules for the regulation of land and naval forces, provide for the militia, arm and discipline the militia, exercise exclusive legislation in Washington D.C, and make laws necessary to execute the powers of Congress.

State, tribal, and local governments

The state governments have the greatest influence over most Americans' daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution, government, and code of laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between individual states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature. (bicameral in every state except Nebraska-wikipedia encylopedia), whose members represent the voters of the state. Each state maintains its own state court system. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system.

As a result of the Supreme Court case Worcester v. Georgia, Indian tribes are considered "domestic dependent nations" that operates as sovereign governments subject to Federal authority but, generally, outside of the influence from state governments. Hundreds of laws, executive orders, and court cases have modified the governmental status of tribes vis-a-vis-states, but have kept the two officially distinct. Tribal capacity to operate robust governments varies, from a simple council used to manage all aspects of tribal affairs, to large and complex bureaucracies with several branches of government. Tribes are empowered to form their own governments, with power resting in elected tribal councils, elected tribal chairpersons, or religioulsy appointed leaders (as is the case with pueblos-wikipedia encyclopedia). Tribal citizenship (and voting rights) is generally restricted to individuals of Native descent, but tribes are free to set whatever membership requirements they with.

The institutions that are responsible for local governments are typically town, city or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These law concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The elected official of a town is or is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate in a direct democratic fashion, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Independent governmental entities: The Congress shall have power to . . . regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes . . .

Article I, Section 8, United States Constitution

The U.S. Constitution recognizes that Indian tribes are independent governmental entities. Like state governments and foreign governments, Indian tribes have the inherent power to govern their people and their lands.

Domestic dependent nations: The terms "free" and "independent" describe the political identity of all the Indian peoples of the hemisphere prior to European arrival. Today, however, the United States would have us believe that there are no free and independent Indian nations existing within the geographical boundaries claimed by the United States, despite the existence of hundreds of treaties between the United State and free Indian nations from 1776 to 1871. Indeed, the entire field known as "federal Indian law" or "U.S. Indian law" is premised upon the notion that Indian "tribes" are "domestic dependent nations." This presumption arises in large part because in 1831, in the case Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court. (Indian Country Today)

Discrimination: the word discrimination comes from the Latin "discriminare", which means to " distinguish between". To discriminate socially is to make a distinction between people on the basis of class or category without regard to individual merit. Examples of social discrimination include racial, religous, sexual, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic, heigh-related, and age related discrimination. Whether a given example of discrimination is positive or negative is a subjective judgement (i.e., in the eye of the beholder).

Law Enforcement and Tribal Courts
(National Congress of American Indians)

The role of the Federal government has increased in recent years, but the primary responsibility of crime control and prevention rests directly with our Nation's state, tribal, and local governments. There are numerous tribal police departments tasked with crime control and prevention along with tribal judicial systems that have the awesome responsibility of applying the law. Both tribal police departments and tribal judiciary systems are the ultimate expression of inherent tribal sovereignty. The ability of any nation to enact, enforce, and interpret its own laws and be governed by them is one of the most recognized power of any sovereign. The NCAI supports and assists these tribal police departments and tribal judicial systems by advocating for increased funding for programs, conducting training programs, and reporting to these constituents regarding legislative activities that will affect them in some way.

Sovereignty: Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme political (e.g. legislative, judicial, and/or executive) authority over a geographic region, group of people, or oneself.

American Indian law enforcement
(National Congress of American Indians)

The federal government funds most public safety and criminal justice systems in Indian Country. The typical police department in Indian Country is attempting to cope with an increasing workload driven by rising crime, increased police involvement in the social concerns that relate to crime, greater community demands for police services, and is doing so with a quite limited resource base. The men and women that work for Indian Country police departments are dedicated and professional in every aspect of the challenging and difficult job that must be done every day of the week at any time of the day.

    * Police in Indian Country function within a complicated jurisdictional net, answer to multiple authorities, operate with limited resources, and patrol some of the most desolate of territory often without assistance from partner law enforcement agencies.
    * There are only 2,380 Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal uniformed officers available to serve an estimated 1.4 million Indians covering over 56 million acres of tribal lands in the lower 48 states.
    * On tribal lands, 1.3 officers must serve every 1,000 citizens, compared to 2.9 officers per 1,000 citizens in non-Indian communities with populations under 10,000.
    * A total of at least 4,290 sworn officers are needed in Indian Country to provide the minimum level of coverage enjoyed by most communities in the United States.
    * Among the most important challenges facing these officers and departments is providing around-the-clock police coverage to their communities.
    * These departments rarely have more than one officer on duty at any time, and their officers often work without adequate backup. They are true innovators, working across numerous police and administrative functions.
    * The lessons drawn by tribes and Congress from the research on and accumulation of experience in community policing and the design of effective governing institutions in Indian Country provide the necessary starting points for tribes as they rethink policing.
    * The challenge is to create workable, nation-specific policing institutions and approaches informed by traditional customs-since they lay the best foundation for improving safety, preventing crime, and promoting the practice of effective policing in Indian Country.