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LAWRENCE -- A pivotal 1978 U.S. Supreme Court decision that divests tribal governments of criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian defendants will be re-argued Saturday, Oct. 5, at a University of Kansas School of Law conference.
The 1978 case, Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, will be reconsidered during the two-day Tribal Law and Governance Conference, Oct. 4 and 5 in the Sunflower Room of the Burge Union. The re-argument will take place in the School of Law's moot court, first floor of Green Hall.
"This is a landmark case with a lot of ramifications in Indian law," said Stacy L. Leeds, KU visiting professor of law. "Federal Indian law has recognized Congress' authority to divest tribes of authority, but in Oliphant, the U.S. Supreme Court acted unilaterally and divested tribes of their authority without an act of Congress or treaty cession."
"The Supreme Court's reasoning was that tribes shouldn't have jurisdiction over non-Indians, that to do so was inconsistent with the tribes' dependent status," said Leeds, who directs the Northern Plains Indian Law Center at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.
A mock American Indian Nations Supreme Court, composed of tribal court justices, will hear the case and rule on it. The tribal court judges will include Leeds, who serves as associate justice on the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court, Tahlequah, Okla; G. William Rice, University of Tulsa law professor, who has served as chief justice of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma; and Charles Tripp, chief justice of the Kaw Nation of Oklahoma.
A written opinion is scheduled to appear in the spring issue of the Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy.
Prominent Indian law scholars assembled to speak at this year's conference include Bob Anderson, University of Washington; Tai Helton, University of Oklahoma; Melissa Tatum, University of Tulsa; Rebecca Tsosie, Arizona State University; and Judith Royster, University of Tulsa.
KU's Tribal Law and Government Center and the Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy at the KU School of Law are sponsoring the event.
In addition to the retrying of Oliphant, the conference will include sessions on:
• "Tribal Court Criminal Defense Practice"
• "What Tribes Should Know about the Violence against Women Act's Full Faith and Credit Provisions"
• "Nation Building and Constitutional Reform in Indian Country"
• "Native American Jurisprudence: Native Philosophies and Tribal Law"
People interested in attending the conference should call the KU School of Law, (785) 864-9245, for more information.
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