Post by Okwes on Jan 6, 2006 2:11:01 GMT -5
Indian Treaty Rights and the White Plume case,
Lakota Nation industrial hemp,
Judge Calls DEA's Views on Hemp Farming 'Asinine'
www.votehemp.com/news_coverage.html
www.votehemp.com/PR/12-16-05_judge_calls.html
For Immediate Release
Friday, December 16, 2005
CONTACT:
David Frankel 808-870-0990 or Alex White Plume 605-455-1142
Federal Judge Calls DEA's Views on Hemp Farming 'Asinine' in Case Over
Industrial Hemp & Tribal Sovereignty
ST. LOUIS, MO - On Monday, Dec. 12 lawyers Bruce Ellison and David Frankel,
representing Alex White Plume and his family of the Lakota Nation who live
on the Pine Ridge Reservation, made oral arguments in the Eighth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals in front of a three-judge panel to reverse efforts by
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to place an injunction
preventing the White Plumes from growing industrial hemp. In what has been
deemed a sovereignty case that is very uniquely framed, the White Plumes
planted industrial hemp on their family land for three seasons only to have
it cut down and confiscated by DEA agents.
During the oral arguments it became clear that Judge Kermit Bye and Judge
Arlen Beam were focused on two issues: (1) the irrationality of allowing the
exempt parts of the plant to be imported into the U.S. but not allowing
industrial hemp to be grown in the U.S. and (2) the lack of any rational
permitting process by the DEA. While the Government's case was made, Judge
Beam commented, "It seems asinine to me that they can bring in the Canadian
stuff and use it but can't grow it." Beam also suggested that it did not
make sense that Congress would try to make the economy of Native American
tribes more enhanced by casino gambling but not allow industrial hemp
cultivation.
The White Plumes assert their right to raise non-psychoactive industrial
hemp as an exercise of their sovereign rights pursuant to an Oglala Sioux
Tribal ordinance enacted to secure rights guaranteed by the Treaties of 1851
and 1868 signed between the Lakota Nation and the U.S. Nevertheless, the
U.S. government maintains that its asserted "trust responsibility" gives it
the final authority to decide appropriate uses of reservation lands.
The federal government filed a civil suit against the White Plumes in U.S.
District Court in South Dakota, despite the facts that the Lakota were
growing hemp for seed and fiber when they entered into the treaties with the
U.S. government and that industrial hemp is legally imported into the U.S.
from dozens of countries to feed the explosive domestic and global demand
for nutritious omega-3-rich hemp foods and ecological hemp fiber products
<http://www.votehemp.com/markets.html> . The DEA sought a permanent
injunction to prevent the White Plumes from growing industrial hemp without
federal permission because the DEA has placed a de facto ban on
non-psychoactive industrial hemp farming in the U.S. by treating it as if
the crop were the same as drug/medical marijuana. Late last December, the
court granted the government's motion for summary judgment, which led to the
appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
"The District Court completely ignored relevant Indian law, the treaties,
the Constitution and the significance of the Myerle Papers when they granted
the government's motion for summary judgment," says David Frankel, attorney
and Vote Hemp board member.
"Because federal Indian law allows tribes to continue doing something today
that they were doing at the time they signed treaties with the U.S.
government, the Lakota have an excellent chance at reversal," notes Ken
Friedman, local counsel for the Hemp Industries Association (HIA)
<http://www.thehia.org> and Vote Hemp, who submitted their amicus brief in
the White Plume case.
A decision in the case is expected in 2006. To read about the White Plume
case and download the Vote Hemp and HIA amicus brief, please visit our Legal
Cases <http://www.votehemp.com/legal_cases_WP.html> section.
For more information on industrial hemp, please visit www.VoteHemp.com, the
Web site of Vote Hemp, a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance
of industrial hemp.
END
LAKOTA INDUSTRIAL HEMP PROJECT AT PINE RIDGE, SD
United States vs. Alex & Percy White Plume
<http://www.votehemp.com/legal_cases_WP.html>
Lakota Nation industrial hemp,
Judge Calls DEA's Views on Hemp Farming 'Asinine'
www.votehemp.com/news_coverage.html
www.votehemp.com/PR/12-16-05_judge_calls.html
For Immediate Release
Friday, December 16, 2005
CONTACT:
David Frankel 808-870-0990 or Alex White Plume 605-455-1142
Federal Judge Calls DEA's Views on Hemp Farming 'Asinine' in Case Over
Industrial Hemp & Tribal Sovereignty
ST. LOUIS, MO - On Monday, Dec. 12 lawyers Bruce Ellison and David Frankel,
representing Alex White Plume and his family of the Lakota Nation who live
on the Pine Ridge Reservation, made oral arguments in the Eighth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals in front of a three-judge panel to reverse efforts by
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to place an injunction
preventing the White Plumes from growing industrial hemp. In what has been
deemed a sovereignty case that is very uniquely framed, the White Plumes
planted industrial hemp on their family land for three seasons only to have
it cut down and confiscated by DEA agents.
During the oral arguments it became clear that Judge Kermit Bye and Judge
Arlen Beam were focused on two issues: (1) the irrationality of allowing the
exempt parts of the plant to be imported into the U.S. but not allowing
industrial hemp to be grown in the U.S. and (2) the lack of any rational
permitting process by the DEA. While the Government's case was made, Judge
Beam commented, "It seems asinine to me that they can bring in the Canadian
stuff and use it but can't grow it." Beam also suggested that it did not
make sense that Congress would try to make the economy of Native American
tribes more enhanced by casino gambling but not allow industrial hemp
cultivation.
The White Plumes assert their right to raise non-psychoactive industrial
hemp as an exercise of their sovereign rights pursuant to an Oglala Sioux
Tribal ordinance enacted to secure rights guaranteed by the Treaties of 1851
and 1868 signed between the Lakota Nation and the U.S. Nevertheless, the
U.S. government maintains that its asserted "trust responsibility" gives it
the final authority to decide appropriate uses of reservation lands.
The federal government filed a civil suit against the White Plumes in U.S.
District Court in South Dakota, despite the facts that the Lakota were
growing hemp for seed and fiber when they entered into the treaties with the
U.S. government and that industrial hemp is legally imported into the U.S.
from dozens of countries to feed the explosive domestic and global demand
for nutritious omega-3-rich hemp foods and ecological hemp fiber products
<http://www.votehemp.com/markets.html> . The DEA sought a permanent
injunction to prevent the White Plumes from growing industrial hemp without
federal permission because the DEA has placed a de facto ban on
non-psychoactive industrial hemp farming in the U.S. by treating it as if
the crop were the same as drug/medical marijuana. Late last December, the
court granted the government's motion for summary judgment, which led to the
appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
"The District Court completely ignored relevant Indian law, the treaties,
the Constitution and the significance of the Myerle Papers when they granted
the government's motion for summary judgment," says David Frankel, attorney
and Vote Hemp board member.
"Because federal Indian law allows tribes to continue doing something today
that they were doing at the time they signed treaties with the U.S.
government, the Lakota have an excellent chance at reversal," notes Ken
Friedman, local counsel for the Hemp Industries Association (HIA)
<http://www.thehia.org> and Vote Hemp, who submitted their amicus brief in
the White Plume case.
A decision in the case is expected in 2006. To read about the White Plume
case and download the Vote Hemp and HIA amicus brief, please visit our Legal
Cases <http://www.votehemp.com/legal_cases_WP.html> section.
For more information on industrial hemp, please visit www.VoteHemp.com, the
Web site of Vote Hemp, a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance
of industrial hemp.
END
LAKOTA INDUSTRIAL HEMP PROJECT AT PINE RIDGE, SD
United States vs. Alex & Percy White Plume
<http://www.votehemp.com/legal_cases_WP.html>