NCJ Number
76082
Date Published
1981
Length
187 pages
Annotation
Representatives from Indian groups, local communities in Montana, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and criminal justice agencies testified before a Senate committee in 1980 on proposed legislation to establish special magistrates with jurisdiction over Federal offenses within Indian territories.
Abstract
The committee chairman first summarized jurisdictional problems on Indian reservations and introduced the text of S. 2832 into the hearing record. A Montana State legislator supported the bill and complained about the leniency of the tribal court. In contrast, a representative from the Fort Belknap Community Council viewed the magistrate system as an unwarranted intrusion and expansion of Federal jurisdiction on Indian reservations. The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council and the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board generally endorsed the legislation and described difficulties caused by the inability of Indian tribes to prosecute non-Indians for minor offenses. Testimony from the U.S. magistrate of Wolf Point, Mont., emphasized the lack of respect for law caused by failure to prosecute minor crimes and commented that the magistrate system would deter crime as well as easing the courts' heavy caseloads. A commissioner of a Montana county with a large reservation area suggested that Federal magistrates be required to live on the reservation. The increasing crime problems of Wolf Point, which is located on the Fort Peck reservation, were described by its police chief. Members of the Crow tribe criticized the bill, based on a concern that it would apply substantive federal criminal law to reservation Indians and usurp tribal authority. The 1978 Oliphant decision which held that Indian tribes do not have jurisdiction over non-Indians was discussed, and the hiring of additional law enforcement personnel was suggested as an alternative solution. Indian cases handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Montana were detailed, and the U.S. Attorney felt that improved law enforcement capabilities rather than a revised court system would reduce reservation crime. Representatives from the BIA felt that tribal courts should have jurisdiction over non-Indians and opposed the legislation if the magistrates had jurisdiction over Indians. Materials placed in the hearing record included comments from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, correspondence between the committee and several Indian tribes, and a 1979 Department of Justice memorandum on Federal jurisdiction over non-Indians.