Indian Civil Rights Act

Here is the second encyclopedia entry from Treaties with American Indians: An Encyclopedia of Rights, Conflicts, and Sovereignty, Donald Fixico, ed.

Indian Civil Rights Act, 1968

The Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1301–1333) was enacted on April 11, 1968, and is like the Bill of Rights in that it guarantees to Native peoples personal freedoms against actions of the federal government. The act was born out of necessity. Public Law 280, passed in 1954, transferred civil and criminal jurisdiction of reservation Indians to six states (Alaska, California, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Wisconsin). Public Law 280 created a certain amount of lawlessness and reduced federal programs to Indian citizens, for example, welfare, health, education, and law enforcement programs in California. Other examples include allegations of maltreatment or lack of protection by law enforcement officers because reservations have no tax base, or because in many instances the response time (several miles) makes law enforcement almost nonexistent. Because Indian tribes were not subject to the Bill of Rights and other constitutional protections, the Indian Civil Rights Act was passed in response to lawlessness before as well as after the passage of PL 280 and in response to other issues pertaining to crime in Indian country. The ICRA is divided into seven titles: Title I is the act itself. Title II encompasses the definition of an Indian tribe, self-government, tribal courts, and Indian rights. Title III establishes the model code governing courts of Indian offenses. Title IV covers jurisdiction over criminal and civil actions (PL 280). Title V is an amendment to the United States Code, Section 1153 of Title 18. Title VI deals with the employment of legal counsel by Indian tribes. Title VII deals with materials relating to the constitutional rights of Indians and authorizes the secretary of the interior to make available certain documents, manuscripts, and opinions relating to Indian law and to republish these documents. The documents include Indian Affairs Laws and Treaties, Volumes 1 and 2, and Federal Indian Law.
The most important title, Title II, defines an Indian tribe, self-government, and the tribal court, as well as the constitutional rights provided by the act and habeas corpus (release from unlawful restraint). The constitutional rights provided in Title II of the ICRA are as follows:
No Indian tribe in exercising powers of self-government shall (1) make or enforce any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition for a redress of grievances; (2) violate the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, nor issue warrants, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized; (3) subject any person for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy; (4) compel any person in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; (5) take any private property for a public use without just compensations; (6) deny to any person in a criminal proceeding the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and at his own expense to have the assistance of counsel for his defense; (7) require excessive bail, impose excessive fines, inflict cruel and unusual punishments, and in no event impose for conviction of any one offense any penalty or punishment greater then imprisonment for a term of one year or a fine of $5,000, or both; (8) deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws or deprive any person of liberty or property without due process of law; (9) pass any bill of attainder or ex post facto law; or (10) deny to any person accused of an offense punishable by imprisonment the right, upon request, to a trial by jury of not less than six persons. (Getches, Wilkinson, and Williams 1998, 506)
Kurt T. Mantonya
See also
Indian Country; Public Law 280, 1953.
References and Further Reading
Clarkin, Thomas. 2001. Federal Indian Policy: In the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations 1961–1969. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Deloria, Vine, Jr., and Clifford M. Lytle. 1983. American Indians, American Justice. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Getches, David H., Charles F. Wilkinson, and Robert A. Williams, Jr. 1998. Cases and Materials on Federal Indian Law. St. Paul, MN: West.
Johnson, Troy R., ed. 1999. Contemporary Native American Political Issues. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.