These people are creepy:
The Little Shell Pembina Band of North America, a self-proclaimed tribe of Chippewa Indians, has been warned not to try to enforce its tribal court rulings.
U.S. District Judge Garr M. King in Oregon said the band was more than welcome to hold its own trials and issue judgments. But she said she would hold its officials in contempt if they tried to enforce the rulings.
The Little Shell Pembina Band claims descent from Chippewa Chief Little Shell. However, the group is not affiliated with the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe of Montana, whose legitimacy is embraced by other tribes and the state, and whose federal recognition has been given a favorable review by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and by the courts.
The Little Shell Pembina Band has been accused more than once of using its alleged sovereign status to skirt laws. The Anti-Defamation League has labeled the group "extremist." [ADL website].
Get the Story:
Self-proclaimed court can't enforce rulings, federal judge decides (The Oregonian 5/20)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/111658304524950.xml&coll=7 Self-proclaimed court can't enforce rulings, federal judge decides
Friday, May 20, 2005
ASHBEL S. GREEN
The Oregonian
A real federal judge on Thursday refused to stop a pretend $2 million lawsuit from going to trial in a mock court system.
But U.S. District Judge Garr M. King put strict limits on the Little Shell Pembina Band of North America, the self-proclaimed Native American tribe that plans to conduct the trial in its "sovereign" court system.
King issued a temporary restraining order against the tribe and threatened to issue contempt of court charges and notify federal prosecutors if group members -- who are not required to be Native American -- try to enforce any verdict its court system produces.
"They may not in any way, shape or form use the judgment to affect any of the assets, income or activities of the plaintiffs," King said.
That restriction addressed a principal concern of Western States Chiropractic College and four school officials, who were notified last month that a disgruntled former student -- and Little Shell Pembina Band member -- had filed suit against them in the group's "tribal" court.
Even though any judgment of the Little Shell Pembina Band court is legally meaningless, Western States officials claimed the former student would attempt to use it to place liens on the property and seize the assets of school officials.
Their concern was based "on anecdotal evidence of similar prior conduct of the Little Shell Pembina Band of North America, including the entry of a bogus judgment by the purported tribal court against a judge in Pennsylvania for $3 million, which was used to create a lien against his home," according to court papers.
The "tribal court" trial against Western States is scheduled to begin today in a Seattle church at 11 a.m. "SHARP," according to a "notice of trial."
School officials and their attorneys said they had no intention of attending.
Messages left Thursday with the tribal court judge, Navin C. Naidu, were not returned.
