@Sunny said in RL Anger:
Man, this is a person that just said it wasn't bad that they are talking about removing tribal sovereignity. I don't think facts have anything to do with the views being expressed.
It is not an unreasonable position to take for the sake of argument.
I'm not well-versed in U.S. Tribal law. My understanding of tribal sovereignty is minimal. But from what I do know, tribal sovereignty is something which has, in some way, crippled the ability for aboriginal tribes to seek what other Americans may consider justice.
For example, in Duro v. Reina, the Supreme Court held that a tribal court does not have criminal jurisdiction over a non-member Indian. At that time, tribes could exclude people from their lands, but that's about it; jurisdiction to try and punish an offender rested in courts outside of the lands. Congress later passed a law that permitted tribes to exercise criminal jurisdiction within their reservations over all Indians, including non-members, but that law was only upheld by the Supreme Court in United States v. Lara, 541 U.S. 193 (2004). Still, under the Indian Civil Rights Act, punishments are limited to 1 year imprisonment and a $5,000 fine.
Tribal sovereignty is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can protect against predation by private entities or state governments: states, for example, cannot pass laws regarding such lands because federal law recognizes the sole, exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government to negotiate treaties with native lands. On the other hand, it can also prevent tribes from negotiating in good faith with state governments towards beneficial arrangements; these can get blocked by the federal government under the same principle.
Unfortunately for Trump, he does not have the authority to remove tribal sovereignty. Unfortunately for aboriginal tribes, Congress is full of bucket-heads that don't give a shit about the conditions in native lands.
(Edited to add: thanks to @sunny's opposition, I have come upon and read a very interesting law review article, and have come to the opinion that, if asked about, I would oppose any action to deprive the tribes of their sovereignty. In fact, if anything, I think that expanding them would probably be the best thing since sliced bread.)