Court of Indian Offenses
Court of Indian Offenses is an
There are currently five CFR courts operating in the United States. These include:
- The Albuquerque CFR Court, serving the Kewa Pueblo and the Santa Fe Indian School.
- The Southern Plains CFR Court, serving the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribe of Indians.
- The Western Region CFR Court, serving the Te-Moak Band of Western Shoshone Indians(Nevada).
- The Eastern Oklahoma Region CFR Court, serving the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma.
- The Southwest Region CFR court serves the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of Colorado.[1]
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.[2]
Dual Sovereignty controversy
The CFR court is an Article I federal court, operating under the authority of the United States Secretary of the Interior.[3] 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
References
- ^ "Court of Indian Offenses". U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Denezpi v. United States". Legal Information Institute Supreme Court Bulletin. Cornell Law School. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ^ "DENEZPI v. UNITED STATES". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved July 14, 2023.