United States v. Donald A. Jackson

We must decide whether an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation (tribe), who hunted on the reservation in violation of a tribal ordinance, may be prosecuted in federal court under 18 U.S.C. § 1165 which provides:

Jackson appeals his conviction under that section.

Article IV of the tribe’s constitution divides tribal members into three categories. Because Jackson is of less than one-fourth tribal blood, he was enrolled as a member under Group C, the members of which may not participate in any rights or claims, including hunting, arising out of the treaties to which the tribe is a party.

Jackson does not deny that he was hunting on the reservation without the tribe’s permission. Instead, he contends that Article IV violates his right to equal protection as set out in the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, 25 U.S.C. § 1302 (8).

We requested supplemental briefs on the question whether 18 U.S.C. § 1165 gives federal. courts jurisdiction over an offense committed by one Indian against the property of another Indian on a reservation. Because we conclude that Congress did not intend the statute to extend to such offenses, we need not reach Jackson’s…