Jackson v. Enrollment Department, Tribal Council for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon

12 Am. Tribal Law 85
CourtGrand Ronde Tribal Court
DecidedSeptember 15, 2014
DocketNo. C-13-08-005
StatusPublished

This text of 12 Am. Tribal Law 85 (Jackson v. Enrollment Department, Tribal Council for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Grand Ronde Tribal Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jackson v. Enrollment Department, Tribal Council for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, 12 Am. Tribal Law 85 (grrondect 2014).

Opinion

[87]*87ORDER REMANDING ENROLLMENT DECISION

DAVID D. SHAW, Chief Judge.

Petitioner seeks judicial review of the August 16, 2013 decision by Tribal Council removing him from the Tribal Roll of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (“the Tribe”, or “CTGR”.) Oral arguments were heard on this matter on June 26, 2014. Petitioner appeared through its counsel, Diane Henk-els. Respondent appeared through its counsel, Tribal Attorney Deneen Aubertin Keller.

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

By Tribal Council Resolution No. 142-13 dated August 16, 2013, Petitioner was dis-enrolled from the Tribe subject to a conditional right of appeal. Petitioner timely filed an appeal of the Tribal Council disen-rollment decision to this Court.

Tribal Council Resolution No. 142-13 was issued pursuant to a Tribal Council meeting. The Tribal Council meeting concerned in part an appeal by Petitioner of a July 12, 2013 decision by the CTGR Enrollment Committee to recommend removal of Brian L. Jackson, Jr. from the Tribe’s membership roll.

Subsequent to the oral arguments and oral order from this Court, but prior to the issuance of this written opinion, the Tribe adopted an amendment to the Tribal Enrollment Ordinance.1 The amendment to the Enrollment Ordinance removes the Tribal Council from a role as a secondary review body following an enrollment decision of the Tribal Enrollment Committee. Tribal Enrollment Ordinance Section (i)(3), (5), (7). Pursuant to the recent changes to the Enrollment Ordinance, the Enrollment Committee makes a decision rather than a recommendation for disenrollment and this Enrollment Committee decision can be appealed directly to Tribal Court with all the rights to notice and opportunity for legal counsel of a pure adjudicatory setting. Id. Section (i)(5).

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Petitioner was enrolled as a Tribal member in September 1985 and possesses more than 1/16 of Indian blood.

Respondent alleges that as of the time of Petitioner’s 1985 enrollment with the Tribe, Mr. Jackson, Jr. was also an enrolled member of the Klamath Tribe. The parties are in agreement and the record establishes that Petitioner’s name was removed from the Klamath Tribe’s membership roll by February 1998. No question exists that during Petitioner’s enrollment with the Tribe he was also an enrolled member of the Klamath Tribe.

During the time period of Petitioner’s dual enrollment, the Klamath Tribe was both a federally-recognized tribe and a tribe without federal recognition. Specifically, the Klamath Tribe, as part of a tragic history of federal Indian policy shared with other tribes, had its federal recognition terminated by the United States government in 1954 and did not regain federal recognition until 1986.

Petitioner alleges that in 1994 a Tribal representative compelled him to file paperwork with the Klamath Tribe and provided [88]*88assistance with this effort, and that this paperwork and Tribal effort dictated his enrollment with the Klamath Tribe contrary to his intent or understanding, and at a point in time when the Klamath Tribe was federally-recognized,2 Petitioner submitted information to the Enrollment Committee and does not otherwise dispute, that he was a member of the Klamath Tribe from at least 1994-1998. Exhibit 2.7.

The contents of disenrollment-related letters provided from the Tribe to Petitioner, when they were provided, and what happened in the Enrollment Committee hearing process are crucial to the analysis and resolution of this ease. Specifically, on April 19, 2013 Petitioner was provided formal written notice by the CTGR Enrollment Committee of the results of an enrollment audit concerning his Tribal membership. Exhibit 24. This April 19, 2013 letter provided notice to Petitioner that the Enrollment Department was recommending his disenrollment and that he had the right to request a hearing with the Department within 30 days, at which he could hear the evidence against him, confront witnesses, present evidence, and be represented by counsel. Id. This right to a hearing and the manner with which Petitioner may participate in the same (including the right to counsel, confront witnesses, present and dispute evidence) is also provided in the public laws of the Tribe. Enrollment Ordinance Section (i). The second paragraph of the April 19, 2013 letter explicitly states that the audit determined that Petitioner was “enrolled in error because at the time you were enrolled you were also an enrolled member of another federally recognized tribe, specifically the Klamath Tribe.” Exhibit 24. The third paragraph of the same letter states that disenrollment is recommended for Petitioner “because you were enrolled in error and dually enrolled in violation of the Tribes’ Constitution,” Exhibit 24.

Petitioner received a second Enrollment Committee letter approximately one month later informing him of his specific hearing date. Exhibit 26. This letter did not repeat the language from the April 19, 2013 letter (and the Tribal Enrollment Ordinance) reciting the rights of Petitioner at his now scheduled hearing date. Id.

Petitioner timely requested and participated in the Enrollment Committee hearing without legal representation, but with one written document prepared by an attorney on his behalf. Petitioner presented evidence at his Enrollment Committee hearing that Klamath was not a federally-recognized tribe at the time he enrolled at CTGR in 1985, along with information that he had enrollment status with the Kla-math Tribe from 1994 until 1998. Exhibit 27. From this hearing, the Enrollment Department continued to recommend disenrollment, however the stated basis for disenrollment was merely due to a dual enrollment at any time Petitioner was a Tribal member, and the evidence that Petitioner was a Klamath member after the time that Klamath regained federal recognition and up until February 1998.

Petitioner subsequently received formal notice through Exhibits 44 and 45 that the Tribal Council would be taking action on the Enrollment Department’s recommendation of his disenrollment on August 14, 2013. Consistent with the Enrollment Ordinance, this notice did not state the same litany of rights available to Petitioner be[89]*89fore Tribal Council as the prior notice letter concerning Petitioner’s appearance before the Enrollment Committee. Id. This notice to Petitioner also stated that the Tribal Council would be considering the Enrollment Committee disenrollment recommendation based on his dual enrollment with the Klamath Tribe at any time. Id.

Petitioner attended the August 14, 2013 Tribal Council meeting, walked past the podium available for public speakers at Tribal Council members, and physically approached the Tribal Council bench and Tribal Council. Exhibit 47; Tribal website video archive of August 14, 2013 meeting available at www.grandronde.org/video/. Upon this approach, Petitioner was met by two Tribal police officers and escorted away. Id. The record is insufficient to determine if Petitioner was escorted by the police officers out of the meeting, if the police officers communicated to Petitioner that he had to leave the meeting, if Petitioner believed he had to leave the meeting based on the interaction with the officers, or if Petitioner left the meeting of his own accord. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
12 Am. Tribal Law 85, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-enrollment-department-tribal-council-for-the-confederated-grrondect-2014.