Post by blackcrowheart on Jan 6, 2006 13:48:29 GMT -5
Maine appeals federal ruling against '89 Micmac settlement
Thursday, January 05, 2006 - Bangor Daily News
www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=126333
The Maine Attorney General's Office on Wednesday appealed a federal
court decision that struck down the state's 1989 settlement with the
Aroostook Band of Micmacs and suggested that the small, northern
Maine tribe might not be subject to state law.
While the court's December ruling related only to state employment
laws, Maine Attorney General G. Steven Rowe said he hoped the appeal
would clarify parts of the decision that leave open whether the tribe
must follow other state laws.
"Hopefully, that review will clarify the legal nature of the Band's
relationship with the state," Rowe said in explaining the decision to
appeal the matter to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. "In
the end, we must all work together and live as neighbors.
Understanding the legal landscape is key to moving forward."
News of the appeal was not unexpected by Micmac leaders, who after
years of legal and political conflict with state officials scoffed at
Rowe's neighborly sentiments.
"Now they want to work together?" Micmac Chief Billy Phillips said
Wednesday afternoon. "The only thing we've heard before this is that
they want to raid our land and stop us from doing anything we want to
do."
Tribal attorneys have argued that the Micmacs, like most other
federally recognized tribes, are subject to federal - not state -
law. Phillips said Wednesday he welcomed the chance for the 1st
Circuit to review the case again. In April of last year, that appeals
court granted the tribe's request that the case be heard in federal -
not state - court, and questioned whether state law applied to the
Micmacs.
The civil lawsuit that prompted U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret
Kravchuck's December decision stems from the tribe's 2001 firing of
three Aroostook County women. The women had complained to the Maine
Human Rights Commission that their terminations violated the Maine
Whistleblower Protection Act.
The commission found enough evidence to investigate the claim, but
the tribe contested the ruling in federal court, contending that
because the band is a sovereign nation, the commission, a state
agency, does not have jurisdiction over its affairs.
Kravchuck's ruling resolved that issue in the tribe's favor by
striking down a 1989 state law governing the relationship between the
state and the tribe. That 1989 act, which specifically made the
Micmacs subject to state law, was never certified by the tribe and
therefore never took effect, she ruled.
Tribal officials had long awaited the ruling, saying it could dictate
whether they would open a tobacco shop - free from state taxes - near
the tribe's Presque Isle headquarters.
State officials consider the tribal tobacco shop a violation of state
taxation laws, and in earlier correspondence with federal officials
from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, warned that any attempt to open
such a facility could result in a potentially dangerous standoff with
state law enforcement officials.
The state's three other federally recognized tribes - the
Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Indian Nation and the Houlton Band
of Maliseet Indians - are covered under a 1980 settlement with the
state that subjects those tribes to most state laws. The Micmac
tribe, which was not federally recognized at the time, is not
specifically named in that agreement.
State attorneys argued that the 1980 settlement was meant to cover
all Indians in Maine and therefore does apply to the Micmacs.
Thursday, January 05, 2006 - Bangor Daily News
www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=126333
The Maine Attorney General's Office on Wednesday appealed a federal
court decision that struck down the state's 1989 settlement with the
Aroostook Band of Micmacs and suggested that the small, northern
Maine tribe might not be subject to state law.
While the court's December ruling related only to state employment
laws, Maine Attorney General G. Steven Rowe said he hoped the appeal
would clarify parts of the decision that leave open whether the tribe
must follow other state laws.
"Hopefully, that review will clarify the legal nature of the Band's
relationship with the state," Rowe said in explaining the decision to
appeal the matter to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. "In
the end, we must all work together and live as neighbors.
Understanding the legal landscape is key to moving forward."
News of the appeal was not unexpected by Micmac leaders, who after
years of legal and political conflict with state officials scoffed at
Rowe's neighborly sentiments.
"Now they want to work together?" Micmac Chief Billy Phillips said
Wednesday afternoon. "The only thing we've heard before this is that
they want to raid our land and stop us from doing anything we want to
do."
Tribal attorneys have argued that the Micmacs, like most other
federally recognized tribes, are subject to federal - not state -
law. Phillips said Wednesday he welcomed the chance for the 1st
Circuit to review the case again. In April of last year, that appeals
court granted the tribe's request that the case be heard in federal -
not state - court, and questioned whether state law applied to the
Micmacs.
The civil lawsuit that prompted U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret
Kravchuck's December decision stems from the tribe's 2001 firing of
three Aroostook County women. The women had complained to the Maine
Human Rights Commission that their terminations violated the Maine
Whistleblower Protection Act.
The commission found enough evidence to investigate the claim, but
the tribe contested the ruling in federal court, contending that
because the band is a sovereign nation, the commission, a state
agency, does not have jurisdiction over its affairs.
Kravchuck's ruling resolved that issue in the tribe's favor by
striking down a 1989 state law governing the relationship between the
state and the tribe. That 1989 act, which specifically made the
Micmacs subject to state law, was never certified by the tribe and
therefore never took effect, she ruled.
Tribal officials had long awaited the ruling, saying it could dictate
whether they would open a tobacco shop - free from state taxes - near
the tribe's Presque Isle headquarters.
State officials consider the tribal tobacco shop a violation of state
taxation laws, and in earlier correspondence with federal officials
from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, warned that any attempt to open
such a facility could result in a potentially dangerous standoff with
state law enforcement officials.
The state's three other federally recognized tribes - the
Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Indian Nation and the Houlton Band
of Maliseet Indians - are covered under a 1980 settlement with the
state that subjects those tribes to most state laws. The Micmac
tribe, which was not federally recognized at the time, is not
specifically named in that agreement.
State attorneys argued that the 1980 settlement was meant to cover
all Indians in Maine and therefore does apply to the Micmacs.