Title: Native Americans and the Law : Native Americans Under Current United States Law
Headings: 
Native Americans and the Law: Native Americans Under Current United States Law
Suggestions for Further Reading

Content: Some of the Bill of Rights provisions were not included in the Indian Civil Rights Act. The Act does not, for example, prohibit the establishment of religion by tribal governments. On the other hand, in some instances the Act is more limiting than the Bill of Rights. Under the Act in its present version, for example, tribal courts are denied the power to impose sentences in criminal cases in excess of $5000 and/or one year in jail. This restriction has made it difficult for many tribal courts to address criminal activity in their jurisdictions. The Indian Civil Rights Act provides statutory, but not constitutional, limitations. Individuals who feel their Indian Civil Rights Act rights have been violated by a tribal government cannot bring a federal civil rights suit to challenge the allegedly violating act. Instead, as the Supreme Court made clear in Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49 (1978), persons wishing to bring Indian Civil Rights Act claims may do so only in tribal court, and then only if the tribe has accorded that court jurisdiction. Congress has also limited the power of tribes by making tribal governments subject to certain laws of general application, for example, environmental protection laws. Where these laws fail to mention tribes and their application impinges on treaty  rights, courts must make individual deterrninations to assess whether a given law applies to a tribe.