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The Week in Review
ending June 30
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Vice President Dick Cheney. Before heart procedure. June 30, 2001. Photo © Reuters. |
Missed our stories? All the headlines for the week can be found
here.
Want In The Hoop's list of the week's
Winners and Losers? Wait
no more.
Supreme Court rules on tribal court authority
In yet another negative decision for Indian Country,
the Supreme Court this week ruled that tribal courts
do not have authority over state officials
doing state business on tribal land.
The ruling caps a ten-year battle between the state
of Nevada and a member of the
the Fallon-Paiute Shoshone Tribe of Nevada. But
even though nine Justices unanimously overturned a lower
court ruling which favored the tribe, there
was considerable dissent in the ranks about how much power tribal
courts have over non-Indians.
Three Justices appeared to want to push the envelope
further and extend their ruling further than state officials.
But three others said the rest went too far in limiting
the authority of tribes.
Get the Story:
Supreme Court
bars state officials from tribal suit (6/26)
O'Connor defends
tribes amidst squabbling (6/26)
McCaleb to inherit trust fund mess
Neal McCaleb had yet to be confirmed
to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs this week but judging
from the troubles in the trust fund case, the delay
might have been appreciated.
Not only is Congress threatening to cut off funds
from the Department of Interior, some members are
asking for a special oversight hearing into the
case. After spending $614 million to fix the system, they are pushing
the government to settle the five-year-old case.
Meanwhile, the Interior is having troubles of its own,
although it is keeping some of them private.
In addition to firing a contractor for some costly mistakes,
the Interior is holding back reports which detail security
issues affecting the
$3.1 billion held in trust for tribes and American Indians.
Get the Story:
Action
threatened against Interior on trust funds (6/25)
Canceled
contract leads to trust fund delays (6/28)
McCaleb
nomination hangs in limbo (6/28)
Special trust
fund hearing requested (6/29)
Interior
holding back trust fund security reports (6/29)
more stories
There's still more to read in the recap
of the top stories.
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