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Court of Indian Offenses

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Indigenous court

Court of Indian Offenses is an Article I Court operated by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. Also known as a "CFR" (Code of Federal Regulations) Court, a Court of Indian Offenses has criminal and civil jurisdiction over Native Americans in Indian Country, on reservations and other Indian trust land that lacks its own tribal court system. Criminally, the Court of Indian Offenses is a limited jurisdiction court that tries misdemeanor violations of Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as well as violations of tribal codes, with permission of the tribe. Civilly, the CFR court holds full civil jurisdiction over matters in its territory.

There are currently five CFR courts operating in the United States. These include:

  1. The Albuquerque CFR Court, serving the Kewa Pueblo and the Santa Fe Indian School.
  2. The Southern Plains CFR Court, serving the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, the Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribe of Indians.
  3. The Western Region CFR Court, serving the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes Indians (Utah) and the Te-Moak Band of Western Shoshone Indians (Nevada).
  4. The Eastern Oklahoma Region CFR Court, serving the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma, the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma.
  5. The Southwest Region CFR court serves the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of Colorado.

In addition to the various Courts of Indian Offenses, there is also an appellate court branch called The Court of Indian Appeals. The Court of Indian Appeals hears all appellate cases from cases originally heard in the CFR Courts.

Dual Sovereignty controversy

The CFR court is an Article I federal court, operating under the authority of the United States Secretary of the Interior. The CFR court only tries misdemeanor crimes, while the jurisdiction to try more serious felony crimes is vested with the United States Attorney’s Offices. However, U.S, Attorneys often decline to prosecute felony cases in Indian Country, which leads CFR court prosecutors to prosecute felony offenders using lesser included misdemeanor offenses in order to ensure that serious offenders receive at least some jail time.

This happened in the case of Denezpi v. United States, where the suspect, Merle Denezpi, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, raped a female enrolled member of the Navajo Nation on the reservation of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The CFR prosecutor charged Denezpi with Aggravated Battery, a misdemeanor charge. Denezpi plead not guilty under an Alford plea, and was sentenced to time served. Unsatisfied with this result, the U.S. Attorney then indicted Denezpi for rape. Denezpi attempted to have the charge dismissed under double jeopardy rules because Aggravated Battery is a lesser included offense of the charge of rape. The government contended that double jeopardy did not exist because the CFR court was exercising tribal prosecutorial authority, not federal authority, in their prosecution of Denezpi. On February 22, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments to determine if CFR courts are tribal courts (as the government and the Ute Mountain Ute tribe contend), or if they are simply machinery to allow tribal courts to operate among tribes that lack the resources to operate their own courts. On June 13, 2022, the Court decided against Denezpi, stating that no matter what authority prosecutes the case, no matter whether CFR courts are tribal courts or federal courts, the source of the dual sovereignty doctrine is the plurality of the authorities where the offences originated from: since the Aggravated Battery charge was defined by the tribal aurhority and the rape charge was federal, they originated from two different sovereigns and therefore could be both prosecuted.

References

  1. "Court of Indian Offenses". U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  2. Smith, Gregory (2020). "The Court of Indian Appeals: America's Forgotten Federal Appellate Court". American Indian Law Review. 44 (2): 215. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  3. Smith, Gregory (2020). "The Court of Indian Appeals: America's Forgotten Federal Appellate Court". American Indian Law Review. 44 (2): 231. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  4. Eagle, Amanda L. White (June 16, 2022). "Amy Coney Barrett Ignored a Critical Detail About the History of Tribal Courts". Slate Magazine. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  5. "Denezpi v. United States". Legal Information Institute Supreme Court Bulletin. Cornell Law School. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  6. "DENEZPI v. UNITED STATES". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
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