NCJ Number
168166
Date Published
1996
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes the development of the Mashantucket Pequot Indians' reservation (Connecticut) justice system.
Abstract
In association with its booming casino business and associated economic ventures, the tribe has the economic resources for expanded community development. This development includes an expanded tribal police force and a reservation criminal court. The tribal police force now includes eight sworn officers and four patrol sergeants. Tribal Police Chief William Hickey is a former State trooper who once was the State's top gambling regulator. Within the next several months, the 310- member tribe expects to be operating its own criminal court, where Native Americans arrested for minor offenses by the tribal police can be brought to justice. The tribe has written its own criminal code, which resembles Connecticut statutes. In the future, an appellate court will also be established. A civil tribunal has been operating for almost 1 year. There, gamblers hurt in accidents at the casino can have their cases adjudicated. The civil court is the only place on the reservation where non- Indian cases are handled. If visitors to the casino have a dispute with the tribe, it must be settled within the tribal legal system. Civil disputes among tribal members will soon be mediated in the traditional Indian way, through a Peacemakers Grievance Council. In the future, estates of deceased tribal members could be handled by a Mashantucket Pequot probate court. Virtually unlimited economic resources combined with a small caseload has enabled the tribe to tailor its legal system to individual needs as well as the greater good.