Title: American Indians and the Constitution | Encyclopedia.com
Headings: American Indians and the Constitution
American Indians and the Constitution
AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE CONSTITUTION
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Content: For example, Congress may establish a preference for employment of tribal Indians with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or may subject Indians to harsher punishments than non-Indians would suffer in state court for doing the same acts. Such legislation is held not to constitute an otherwise forbidden racial classification, because of the separate status of Indians under the Constitution (i.e., their subjection to federal and tribal rather than state jurisdiction). Although Congress has enacted laws governing a wide variety of activities on Indian reservations, there is no detailed code comparable to the District of Columbia's. In the absence of such federal legislation, states and Indian tribes have competed for control. The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld tribal independence from state jurisdiction, basing its decisions on preemptive federal power over Indian affairs and the broad federal policy of setting aside lands for tribal self-government. Although in cases outside Indian law the Supreme Court has refused to apply the preemption doctrine to exclude the operation of state law where congressional intent was doubtful, in Indian cases it has inferred preemptive intent from the general purposes of treaties and statutes to protect tribal resources and promote tribal sovereignty. Thus, absent clear and express congressional consent, states may not regulate non-Indian activities that affect tribal self-government. Despite their lack of authority over reservation Indians, states are prohibited by the Fourteenth Amendment from denying Indians rights available under state law. Within their realm of authority, Indian tribes exercise powers of self-government, not because of any delegation of powers, but rather because of their original, un-relinquished tribal sovereignty. The Supreme Court recognized this sovereign status of Indian tribes in United States v. Wheeler (1978), which held that it would not constitute double jeopardy to try an Indian in federal court after he had been convicted in tribal court because the court systems belong to separate sovereigns.