Post by blackcrowheart on Feb 14, 2006 13:35:02 GMT -5
Yakamas take cases to federal court
By PHIL FEROLITO
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/285400383726557
<http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/285400383726557>
Tired of problems in the Yakama tribal court system, several tribal
members are seeking relief in federal court.
Mounting frustrations stemming from long delays and the lack of a tribal
appellate court have prompted the recent filing of three civil rights
cases in Spokane federal court, said Moses Lake attorney Ted Mahr.
In one case, tribal plaintiffs waited nearly four years before finding
out that their case was being dismissed, said Mahr, who is representing
several clients who say they were wrongfully fired from tribal jobs and
aren't getting anywhere in tribal court.
In addition to seeking back pay and employment reinstatement for his
clients, Mahr said he's also filing civil-rights lawsuits against the
tribal court system for not following its own procedures.
"None of it needed to go to federal court, but when tribal court is
unresponsive, then what do you do?" Mahr said. "If they'd just treat
their members accordingly, none of this would be happening. We wouldn't
be in court."
Housed in a small block building attached to a portable building, the
two-courtroom tribal court has jurisdiction over misdemeanor cases, some
criminal proceedings and most domestic cases involving tribal members on
the Yakama reservation.
But many tribal members say they have no remedy in tribal court if they
have disputes with tribal officials or employers.
"When the tribe hired lawyers a long, long time ago, they hired them to
protect the tribe, but they didn't hire any to protect the workers,"
said Carl Moses-Hyipeer, who claims he was wrongfully fired from the
tribe's water code department.
A report last fall from the National Indian Justice Center revealed the
tribal court suffered from daily breaches of confidentiality and
security, conflicts of interest, a mounting backlog of cases and that it
lacks any appeals process.
The report said these kinds of problems aren't unique to Indian Country,
and that tribal courts chronically suffer from a lack of funding.
The Santa Rosa, Calif.-based justice center is an Indian owned and
operated nonprofit corporation that helps tribes improve their judicial
systems. Tribal leaders commissioned the evaluation of its court system
after receiving numerous complaints.
Tribal Council Chairman Louis Cloud said he wasn't aware of the federal
cases, but that the tribe was still working to fix the problems in
tribal court.
After waiting about three years just to be heard in tribal court, Carl
Moses-Hyipeer and Patty Smith waited nearly another year for the court's
decision dismissing their case, Mahr said.
They were accused of misappropriating funds in the tribe's water code
department and fired. Not long after the firing, however, a review board
found no wrongdoing on their part and recommended they be reinstated
with back pay. It still hasn't happened.
"They just refused to carry it out," Mahr said. "They just let
everything slide."
Without any appeals process in tribal court, federal court was the only
place left to go, he said.
"I don't know why it took them so long to issue their decision," said
Mahr, noting that it usually takes about one to two months. "My clients
have been pretty frustrated by the whole process."
The tribe's attorney, Tim Weaver of Yakima, in his filed response to the
case said the matter doesn't belong in federal court because it wasn't
appealed in tribal court.
All tribal court remedies must be exhausted before taking such cases to
federal court, Weaver wrote in his response to the court.
But Mahr says there's no point in filing an appeal if the court won't
hear it.
According to the National Indian Justice Center report, tribal court
isn't handling appeals, though it does accept the $80 filing fees for
them.
Failure to grant appeals is a violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act,
Mahr said, and that's why he went straight to court on two other cases
that were dismissed in tribal court.
They involve the October 2004 removal of Legends Casino's five-member
board of directors. They were accused of assuming hiring and firing
powers and unauthorized spending by the Tribal Council.
Denying all allegations, they say they were never given a required
hearing or any due process.
The squabble with the Tribal Council began when the board of directors
ordered former casino security guard Rudy Maldonado reinstated with back
pay. He says he was fired after a letter he wrote criticizing casino
operations appeared in the tribal paper.
Tribal leaders at the time said the board of directors ordered the
reinstatement after a review board denied it.
Now, Maldonado is suing in federal court as well.
"They taught me how to make this suit by their illegal actions,"
Maldonado said. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't
pursue this because what they're doing is wrong."
By PHIL FEROLITO
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/285400383726557
<http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/285400383726557>
Tired of problems in the Yakama tribal court system, several tribal
members are seeking relief in federal court.
Mounting frustrations stemming from long delays and the lack of a tribal
appellate court have prompted the recent filing of three civil rights
cases in Spokane federal court, said Moses Lake attorney Ted Mahr.
In one case, tribal plaintiffs waited nearly four years before finding
out that their case was being dismissed, said Mahr, who is representing
several clients who say they were wrongfully fired from tribal jobs and
aren't getting anywhere in tribal court.
In addition to seeking back pay and employment reinstatement for his
clients, Mahr said he's also filing civil-rights lawsuits against the
tribal court system for not following its own procedures.
"None of it needed to go to federal court, but when tribal court is
unresponsive, then what do you do?" Mahr said. "If they'd just treat
their members accordingly, none of this would be happening. We wouldn't
be in court."
Housed in a small block building attached to a portable building, the
two-courtroom tribal court has jurisdiction over misdemeanor cases, some
criminal proceedings and most domestic cases involving tribal members on
the Yakama reservation.
But many tribal members say they have no remedy in tribal court if they
have disputes with tribal officials or employers.
"When the tribe hired lawyers a long, long time ago, they hired them to
protect the tribe, but they didn't hire any to protect the workers,"
said Carl Moses-Hyipeer, who claims he was wrongfully fired from the
tribe's water code department.
A report last fall from the National Indian Justice Center revealed the
tribal court suffered from daily breaches of confidentiality and
security, conflicts of interest, a mounting backlog of cases and that it
lacks any appeals process.
The report said these kinds of problems aren't unique to Indian Country,
and that tribal courts chronically suffer from a lack of funding.
The Santa Rosa, Calif.-based justice center is an Indian owned and
operated nonprofit corporation that helps tribes improve their judicial
systems. Tribal leaders commissioned the evaluation of its court system
after receiving numerous complaints.
Tribal Council Chairman Louis Cloud said he wasn't aware of the federal
cases, but that the tribe was still working to fix the problems in
tribal court.
After waiting about three years just to be heard in tribal court, Carl
Moses-Hyipeer and Patty Smith waited nearly another year for the court's
decision dismissing their case, Mahr said.
They were accused of misappropriating funds in the tribe's water code
department and fired. Not long after the firing, however, a review board
found no wrongdoing on their part and recommended they be reinstated
with back pay. It still hasn't happened.
"They just refused to carry it out," Mahr said. "They just let
everything slide."
Without any appeals process in tribal court, federal court was the only
place left to go, he said.
"I don't know why it took them so long to issue their decision," said
Mahr, noting that it usually takes about one to two months. "My clients
have been pretty frustrated by the whole process."
The tribe's attorney, Tim Weaver of Yakima, in his filed response to the
case said the matter doesn't belong in federal court because it wasn't
appealed in tribal court.
All tribal court remedies must be exhausted before taking such cases to
federal court, Weaver wrote in his response to the court.
But Mahr says there's no point in filing an appeal if the court won't
hear it.
According to the National Indian Justice Center report, tribal court
isn't handling appeals, though it does accept the $80 filing fees for
them.
Failure to grant appeals is a violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act,
Mahr said, and that's why he went straight to court on two other cases
that were dismissed in tribal court.
They involve the October 2004 removal of Legends Casino's five-member
board of directors. They were accused of assuming hiring and firing
powers and unauthorized spending by the Tribal Council.
Denying all allegations, they say they were never given a required
hearing or any due process.
The squabble with the Tribal Council began when the board of directors
ordered former casino security guard Rudy Maldonado reinstated with back
pay. He says he was fired after a letter he wrote criticizing casino
operations appeared in the tribal paper.
Tribal leaders at the time said the board of directors ordered the
reinstatement after a review board denied it.
Now, Maldonado is suing in federal court as well.
"They taught me how to make this suit by their illegal actions,"
Maldonado said. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't
pursue this because what they're doing is wrong."