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DECEMBER 20, 2000

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday turned down the appeals of three Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma tribal members who said their rights were violated when they were arrested by tribal police in 1995.

During the tribe's annual Labor Day festival, the three were arrested for distributing campaign literature. They were charged with disturbing the peace and resisting arrest in the Choctaw Nation Court of Indian Offenses.

But the three maintained the charges against them were merely political. One of those arrested, Doug Dry, had been unsuccessful in his attempt to defeat controversial former chief Hollis Roberts.

In response, Dry and two others brought suit against a variety of defendants: the United States, Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbit, then-Assistant Secretary Ada Deer, officials of the Choctaw Nation, the cities of Talinha and Clayton, and various others. A district court in Oklahoma, however, dismissed all the claims against the federal government and the tribe.

The three then appealed, saying their freedom of spech and assembly rights had been violated, among other claims. They also said the Choctaw Nation's 1938 constitution didn't allow them to criminally prosecute tribal members. Additionally, they said three treaties afforded them special protections.

The 10th Circuit rejected all of their claims and noted that the Choctaw Nation's inherent sovereignty gives them criminal jurisdiction over tribal members. They also said the treaty rights asserted by Dry are granted to the tribe as a whole, not to tribal members individually.

Dry had been defended by the late Scott Kayla Morrison, a Choctaw lawyer and member of the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance (CERA). Among other beliefs, CERA often calls for the extinguishment of all treaty rights, limitations on tribal sovereignty, and sides with non-Indians in land claims.

In a separate case, Dry's lawsuit against the City of Durant was dismissed. Durant police officers were working as tribal security during the Labor Day festival.

Get the Case:
DRY v. US, No 99-7110 (10th Cir. December 19, 2000)

Relevant Links:
Citizens Equal Rights Alliance - www.citizensalliance.org