First the OK news...a Native American was appointed to the federal bench. The bad news (Part I)...Obama didn't make the appointment, another shameful moment in the post racial President's Administration.
AND
NY is AGAIN trying to collect taxes on cigarettes sold in Indian Country. The last time this happened, 13 years ago, resulted in violence.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (August 25, 2010) Chief U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Davis is pleased to announce the appointment of Leo I. Brisbois to the position of United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota. Davis notes the importance of this appointment: “The U.S. Magistrate Judge in Duluth serves a large area across northern Minnesota. Leo Brisbois was raised in Hibbing, and his family are also members of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe Indians. He is an experienced litigator and enjoys an outstanding reputation for maintaining the highest ethical standards and a commitment to public service, including his recent leadership as President of the Minnesota State Bar Association. The Bench is confident that Brisbois will bring to the courtroom the same leadership, respect for others and commitment to service which he has demonstrated throughout his career.” Brisbois will take the oath of office in the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis on August 30, and a formal ceremony will be held this fall in the Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building and United States Courthouse and Customhouse in Duluth.
http://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/...
We've asked. We've begged. We've given the names of our most qualified Native American attorneys to the White House. The ABA has called on the White House to appoint a Native American to the federal bench.
In the end the federal bench had to do it themselves...and it's not even a full fledged judge.
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The last time New York State tried to collect cigarette taxes on Indian lands, 13 years ago, protesters blocked highways upstate and clashed with State Police troopers, who had surrounded reservations to keep cigarettes and other taxable goods from flowing in. After a standoff that dragged on for days, the state relented and scrapped its plan.
On Wednesday, the state will try again to impose taxes on cigarettes sold in Indian stores, but this time it hopes to avoid any violence. Last week, leaders of the Seneca Nation, which led the protests 13 years ago, vowed at a meeting with law enforcement officials to keep their fighting confined to the courts.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
NY, in a shameful effort to close the budget deficit created by a gridlocked Albany, is AGAIN attempting to undermine the sovereignty of the Seneca, Shinnecock and Cayuga Nations.
Governor Paterson, balance your state budgets on the backs of your state citizens, not members of pre-sovereign nation whose lands your ancestors have stolen.
A long time ago Chief Justice Marshall wrote these words:
The Cherokee nation, then, is a distinct community, occupying its own territory, with boundaries accurately described, in which the laws of Georgia can have no force, and which the citizens of Georgia have no right to enter but with the assent of the Cherokees themselves, or in conformity with treaties and with the acts of Congress. The whole intercourse between the United States and this nation is, by our Constitution and laws, vested in the Government of the United States.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/...
Governor Paterson, your legal counsel fails you. You have no authority to impose taxes in Indian Country.
Resist my red brothers and sisters.