Thank you. Welcome back to the show
Trump's recent claim that judicial impartiality was incompatible with hot
latin blood was outrageous enough for Paul Ryan to break out the r-word
Claiming a person can't do the job because of their race is sort of like the
textbook definition of a racist comment
I think that should be absolutely disavowed. It's absolutely unacceptable
it's nice of CNN to include a countdown clock to Trump's next absolutely
unacceptable statement. But racist or not, the "brown judges aren't fair to me"
argument is being made right now in the Supreme Court which will decide as early
as tomorrow whether tribe members can sue Dollar General for an alleged sexual
assault against a 13 year old boy
(REPORTER NARRATION) an attorney for Dollar General argued this violates the stores right to due
process, quote "we are a non-citizen, a non member of the tribe and the trial jury
may be composed only of members of the tribe" he said. Justice Sonia Sotomayor:
"you're just assuming that these judges are not neutral" Dollar General's taking a
stab at diminishing the tribal sovereignty of all nations, not just one
ok, could someone please explain tribal sovereignty in a way that Dollar General can understand?
Uh, Tribal sovereignty means that, it's sovereign.
you're a, you're a, you've been given sovereignty and you're viewed as a sovereign
entity
well said, but this hasn't stopped the supreme court over the years from
snatching away the tribal court's powers the same way we snatched away their land
and most of their turquoise. But what are tribal courts actually like? It was my
manifest destiny to find out
I traveled to the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina to observe their
charmingly backwoods justice system where peyote addled eders rendered
verdict in there fairly new municipal sweat lodge
my name is Bill Boyham and I'm the chief justice of the Cherokee Supreme Court
how did you learn the law, was it passed down by your ancestors in a spirit dream?
I went to law school at University of North Carolina School of Law. --ok gotcha
the reality is that our Court functions much like every other state or federal
court in the United States
isn't that what you want us to believe and most certainly also the truth
Yes. That's not saying that all tribal courts are perfect,
no court is perfect, all we're asking is to be treated like any other court in the United States.
(SAM VOICEOVER) But their judicial mumbo jumbo was too confusing to white
people
tell me about the mysterious symbols on this celestial moon chart
well this is a pretty typical court calendar
(SAM VOICEOVER) ah, a court cal-en-dar. OK, this is just a fucking court
so who besides a certain big box store would argue with that?
I think it's very fair to say Tribal Courts should not be trusted
Ohh, this white lady
Elaine Wellman is an activist and leader of the citizens Equal Rights Alliance, a
group that opposes tribal sovereignty works to take back native lands and
rallies with local lawmakers and Senators to undo contracts tribes have
with the federal government.
Although currently active, she insisted she was not speaking on behalf of her organization.
Tribal government controls tribal court and tribal governments
would like to have all the white people off the reservations
ok, because it sounds to me like the tribes just want us to go to their
courts and follow their laws when we're on their land
they're all a threat to the US Constitution and the private property
rights and the civil rights of American citizens.
You make them sound so powerful. --They are.
(SAM VOICEOVER) They're not. In fact, tribes have some
serious judicial limitations imposed on them by the supreme court.
If a non-Indian commits a crime with an Indian victim, we have no jurisdiction over that crime.
(SAM VOICEOVER) Yep, non-tribal people can pretty much do
what they want on tribal land and get away with it
I'm unaware of any other courts in the world that don't have jurisdiction over
their entire territory. You could punch me in the face and there's really
nothing I can do about it
I've never had permission to punch a grown man before but I feel like you're
asking me to. --Not asking, I'm just using it to illustrate --What if I urinated on your
house
we could not charge in tribal court for that. -- I could graffiti your face
Yeah.
can I resteal till your land? --(murmur) Could I vandalize your mom?
you can punch her. --Punch her.
she's 93. --I could definitely punch your mom then. Yeah.
(SAM VOICEOVER) here's how it works. Let's say I punch his 93 year old mother. She calls the cops,
they can't charge me because I'm a white lady and I don't have to follow their
stupid rules
So she tries the feds. They don't want to take the case because it's so small and
the only recourse
he has available is to sue for damages in tribal civil court. But that's a
recourse that big box stores like Dollar General want to take away for good at
the Supreme Court.
Should the tribe be able to sue Dollar General in this case? --I would say no.
But Dollar General signed an agreement with the tribe. --Yes, they had an agreement.
Umm, but... --I guess we're used to breaking treaties with the Native Americans, so
one more is not gonna hurt.
That's your statement, that's not mine.
No it's definitely my statement. I'm definitely saying that. I am a hundred
percent saying that. --Well,
also I'm more of the belief that all sides of broken treaties and an
advantage was taken on both sides
(SAM VOICEOVER) It's true. We have gotten all the land, but they got all the sports teams
there's a certain number of people who, once they learn they can commit crimes
without being punished are going to do it again
so what you're saying is that Americans are coming over tribal borders --Yes.
They're bringing crime --yes They're rapists.
Some of them, yes. --Some, you assume, are good people.
Yes. --Where have I heard that before?
We may never know who said that.
But Elaine still thinks tribes are getting special treatment
Many of them say we stole their land. Well, we purchased their land. We have
paid them off many times over. --This free ride doesn't last forever.
Well so far it has. If we always owe them because we always stole their land and
they were here first,
what incentive do they have to forgive or go forward?
Well they were here first, isn't that something? --No. Why don't we all the blacks
forever, because we treated them like animals? --We do
(SAM VOICEOVER) It's amazing who fills the vacuum of information on Native American issues
simply because not enough people care to show up
And I'm not going away.
You can call me any name you want, but I know where my heart is and I know what my
best hopes are for native people
What do people call you? --They call me bigot, they call me racist, they call me KKK they
call me, they
call me anything they want to.
(SAM VOICEOVER) But how would they get that impression?
the power of Sharia law might be very very, vary influential on tribal courts
how did I know I was going to hear the words "sharia law" today?
(SAM VOICEOVER) But maybe that's the solution. If enough people think Native Americans are Sharia
terrorists,
they'll finally get the attention they deserve.
We'll be right back.