The trial of federally indicted KBIC tribal chair Fred Dakota was recently
moved from Marquette to Grand Rapids Michigan. Excerpts from a 25 March
1997 article are reprinted below, with permission from The Daily Mining
Gazette.
The KBIC Tribal Council also recently set aside $500,000 for what it refers
to as a "sovereignty" fund. According to KBIC's highly paid public
relations representative, Rich Rossway, this money will be used to pay the
picketers it has hired to demonstrate in front of the Marquette County
Courthouse, protesting the change of venue. He indicated that it will also
be used to pay for Dakota's legal expenses, which currently total around
$130,000. (The Marquette Mining Journal, 1 April 1997)
Finally, pro-bono attorneys for Fight For Justice plan to seek federal
habeas corpus for FFJ member Robert Curtis Sr. for the violation of his
right to counsel under the Indian Civil Rights Act, as well as the
International Covenant on Civial and Political Rights. National Lawyers'
Guild President Peter Erlinder has also criticized KBIC's newly enacted bar
regulations. Excerpts from a 10 May 1997 article in The Daily Mining
Gazette are also posted below.
For more on these developments, and a history of this struggle (now in its
21st month) see Rose Edwards' home page at
("http://www.edwards1.com/rose/native/ffj/ffj.htm").
You can also consult earlier postings to Native-L at
("http://bioc09.uthscsa.edu/natnet/archive/nl/keweenaw-bay.html").
25 March 1997
U.P. TRIBAL LEADER TO BE TRIED DOWNSTATE
by VANESSA DIETZ
The federal trial of Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Chairman Fred Dakota on
tax-evasion charges was set to begin Monday in U.S. District Court in
Marquette, but a last-minute pretrial conference postponed and moved it.
It also put the 59 year-old Dakota's tax evasion charges back together with
other federal counts of conspiracy....Before jury selection got under way
Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Judd Spray requested a change of venue in
the case, saying he feared jurors might be influenced by demonstrators
outside the courtroom building.
Spray noted several "Free Fred" signs displayed on a green KBIC bus by
about 21 people in a parking lot at the front of the courthouse. He said
signs were in place by 8 a.m., when the jury pool arrived. He noted
American Indian Movement and Fight For Justice protestors didn't come on
the scene until after the jury pool was inside the courthouse.
U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell agreed to move the trial, scheduling
proceedings to begin in the federal courthouse in Grand Rapids on Monday,
June 9....He said the Marquette County Courthouse simply cannot be
conveniently accessed by jurors to ensure they are not met by a barrage of
pro- or anti-Dakota propaganda. The potential for jury contamination
outweighs any detriments to moving the trial, he said...
10 May 1997
FEDERAL COURT COULD END UP SCRUTINIZING KBIC TRIBAL COURT
by VANESSA DIETZ
A federal court could end up scrutinizing Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
Tribal Court if a tribal dissident is denied his right to legal defense at
his trial next week.
Fight For Justice member Robert Curtis Sr. may be forced to put his fate in
the hands of the jury without an attorney. Curtis' pro-bono attorneys, Alan
Clarke and Mark Wisti, declined to apply for admission to the court, as
required in a Feb. 21 KBIC resolution. Clarke and Wisti told the judge in a
March 10 letter, that if he enforces the resolution they will "immediately
seek federal habeas corpus for Bob Curtis for the violation of his right to
counsel under the Indian Civil Rights Act as well as the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the U.S. is a
signatory."...
The KBIC Tribal Council resolution...says only lawyers who apply in wrtiing
are eligible to appear in the court. By doing so, the lawyer submits to
"the contempt jurisdiction of the tribal court, regardless of whether the
court otherwise has jurisdiction," the resolution says.
This provision, as well as others in the resolution, were questioned
publicly by some of FFJ's pro-bono attorneys.
The national president of the National Lawyers' Guild commented on the KBIC
resolution at Clarke's request.
Guild President Peter Erlinder told Clarke in a May 1 letter: "It is my
opinion that this procedure is so fatally flawed that it not only violates
the rights of attorneys to due process, but it allows such unfettered
discretion on the part of the chief judge that it undermines the integrity
of the entire adversary process and the rights of the defendants to zealous
representation protected by the Sixth Amendment.
"The practice limitations...are far more limiting that those in place in
other tribal court systems," he wrote.
"It appears that attorneys can only be admitted to practice, and can remain
members of the tribal bar, at the sole discretion of the chief judge. This
feature alone makes the entire plan suspect...There is no independent body
that evaluates candidates for admission and the chief judge is under no
obligation to admit anyone who will question" his rulings.
Characterizing the qualificiations that the tribal court requires of
lawyers as "meaningless," he added: "The criteria established for
evaluating applicants are sufficiently vague that the criteria provide
little direction and fewer limitations, for the chief judge.
"Moreover, because the scheme vests so much unfettered discretion in the
chief judge to punish or disbar attorneys, the procedures create a
potential for serious conflicts of interest with the chief judge whenever
zealous advocates challenge the...court.
"The provision that application for admission includes submission to
contempt jurisdiction makes the aforementioned provision particularly
egregious...an attorney could be subjected to an unreviewable contempt
citation for violating a subjective standard.
"This would allow the tribal court to impose contempt judgments on
disfavored attorneys who would not otherwise be subject to any sanction
under state law or state bar rules."
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Comments from NativeNet listowner, Gary Trujillo (gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us):
I recently received, via snail-mail, a letter on letterhead with the title
"Keweenaw Bay Indian Community," and listing Fred Dakota as president.
Enclosed also was the eight page text of "Resolution #KB-581-97" which
outlines the sense of the situation on the part of those whom the article
above describes. The resolution opens with the words "WHEREAS, The
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Council desires to clearly explain
what it is, what it stnads for, and faces. Officials within the federal
government have abused and misused their power and the public trust in
order to bring about the downfall of the legitimate sovereign government
of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community..."
Following is the text of the cover letter:
To: All Native American Media Organizations
From: Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Council
Subject: Federal attack on tribal sovereignty
Date: April 17, 1997
Greetings,
As the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community progresses towards the 21st
Century, we had hoped that the dirty deeds of unscrupulous land-
owners and government agents who once preyed upon the Chippewa
people were just a sad chapter in our history. We hoped that the
broken promises of the Chippewa Treaties of 1842 and 1854 were
behind us. Unfortunately, it appears that the United States
government's dishonorable treatment of the First People of this
land may never change.
Officials within the federal government are currently attempting
to undermine the legitimate Tribal Council of the Keweenaw Bay
Indian Community in order to install a government more to their
liking. Please read the enclosed Resolution very carefully. We
have sent it to all Native American media organizations in order
to enlighten and to warn all tribal people of the potential danger
they are facing. Do not take this federal aggression lightly.
If it can happen to our tribe it can happen to yours as well!
-MEGWETCH-
Keweenaw Bay Tribal Center
Baraga, Michigan 49908
Phone: 906-353-6623
Fax: 906-353-7540