Sunday, April 22, 2012

Interesting: Cheating Chukchansi Council Plans To Start a Tribal Court! Will They be the FIRST on Trial?

Chukchansi Indian leaders who have struggled for months with internal strife are considering starting a court to address appeals and serve as an oversight body for the tribal council. Last month, more than 90% of the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians tribe's general council -- a group of about 500 people -- voted to start a tribal court that would resolve internal disputes. Since, there hasn't been any apparent movement to get the ball rolling. But this week, Chukchansi spokesman Roger Salazar confirmed that the tribe's leaders plan to start a court. "Any time you establish something new in government, you want to make sure you do it right," Salazar said. "It's going to take time to set up a committee to explore the issue, bring findings back to the membership and ultimately establish a tribal court. In the end, we hope the process will help make the tribe stronger for generations to come." Long-standing differences between rival Chukchansi groups, one headed by Reggie Lewis and the other by Morris Reid, came to a head in December when a tribal council meeting spun out of control. Since, there has been an occupation of tribal offices and a still-frazzled relationship between the sides, which differ mostly over enrollment and election issues. The tribe's lawyer, Arizona-based Robert Rosette, said he doesn't know how long it will take to establish a court. Some can be created in months, but others take years. "Tribal courts vary as much as the tribes themselves," he said. But Santa Rosa lawyer Tony Cohen, who represents tribes, said a tribe can create a court system "overnight if you find a court ordinance that appeals to you." Putting off establishment of a court, critics say, could slow the resolution of conflicts related to elections, disenrollment and barring members from tribal facilities. But Rosette said that even if the Chukchansi tribe starts a court, it might not have standing to rule on disenrollment and other membership issues may not be covered by the Chukchansi tribe. "Most membership issues are driven by tribal constitutions," Rosette said. "The way tribal constitutions are typically framed, those membership decisions are left to the governing body of the tribe." Indian tribes are sovereign nations, not beholden to state or federal civil laws when dealing with internal issues. When someone is disenrolled, barred from tribal services or even injured on Indian land, they often can't appeal a final decision to a higher authority. Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/04/20/2808320/chukchansi-plan-to-start-a-tribal.html#storylink=cpy

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reggie Lewis and chance alberta are very corrupt and take our pride away along with everything else chance should be disenrolled his family got letters that's how corrupt these two are they do whatever they want when they want and we can't stop them unless we get help.

Erick Rhoan said...

Empty gesture. Courts exist to provide a forum for the redress of grievances and the neutral application of law to facts. It is presumed that the judiciary is both independent of the other branches of government and that the court has the power to prescribe a proper remedy. It also the duty of a court of law to interpret what the laws mean and say what the law is. Given this tribe’s history, I have many reasons to believe this court will not be independent of the tribal council, will have no ability to grant proper remedies such as the re-enrollment of banished tribal members, and will have a limited ability to interpret tribal law to the extent it can be harmonized with existing tribal council dogma. Each byproduct of this court will be presented as a legal, justified and coherent decision that is attuned to the best interests of the tribe and the public. And there is still the question of who will act as judges, what political pressures they face from the varying factions within the tribal membership, the terms and lengths of their appointments, and whether their decisions are final. At bottom, a court from this tribe will seek only to legitimize the existing bureaucracy, draping unjust and unconstitutional decisions with a false air of legitimacy. It will be used as a selling point to critics, journalists, laymen and politicians that every corrupt decision, be it disenrollment or elections abuse, has undergone judicial scrutiny, has been argued effectively with all available evidence and facts, and was neutrally analyzed according to the proper principles of law.

Whenever I see tribes take steps to provide for themselves, whether it is gaming, asserting treaty and water rights, and now, establishing a judiciary, I am generally pleased to see tribes’ sovereignty being used to create a better society for its people. Courts are precious things because their role is to ensure justice for all, without prejudice. They should not be created in vain. But this is Picayune, and it is immune to reality.

I hope I am proven wrong.

for ALL nations...for ALL chukchansi people said...

i believe that picayune is only giving "public lip-service" to establishing a tribal court...this has been something the tribe has been kicking around since 1992 at least, and has been identified on picayune's required needs assessment and long-range plan ever since i can remember...they definitely have had more than enough time "explore the issue, "bring findings back to the membership and ultimately establish a tribal court" as latest self-serving indian attorney rossette had to say...

ha!!! lets see, they been lookin' at it for AT LEAST 20 years...THERE WILL BE NO TRIBE by the time they get done "lookin'"...

what a joke--public relations move is the only motive picayune has with this one, 'cause NEITHER "council" is concerned for justice, or the people of picayune...otherwise, they would quit bein' all about the money, start bein' indian and bring all our people home where they belong!!!

smokeybear said...

I agree with Erick. This "Tribal Court"..."Nonsense" is nothing more then an attempt by that "Corrupt and Criminal Lewis"
to justify his "Illegal Endevors" by bringing into being a "Vertual Kangaroo Court" that he will actually control. Mark My Words....."Eagle Eyes."

Anonymous said...

Bravo, Mr Rhoan....

Very articulate and convincing.

Erick Rhoan said...

Lol, I try.