The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Native Americans prosecuted in certain tribal courts can also be prosecuted based on the same incident in federal court, which can result in longer sentences.
In a dissent, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that the case involved the same"defendant, same crime, same prosecuting authority" and said the majority's reasoning was"at odds with the text and original meaning of the Constitution." The conservative Gorsuch was joined in dissent by two of the court's three liberal justices, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan.
Federal policy toward Native Americans shifted in the mid-1930s, however, to emphasize a greater respect for tribes' native ways. As part of that, the government has encouraged tribes to create their own tribal courts, and the number of Courts of Indian Offenses has steadily decreased. Today there are five regional Courts of Indian Offenses that serve 16 tribes in Colorado, Oklahoma, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. They are generally tribes with a small number of members or limited resources.
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