Source: http://openjurist.org/print/30632
Timestamp: 2015-10-06 14:00:47
Document Index: 375188880

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1111', '§ 1153', '§ 1111', '§ 1153', '§ 1111', '§ 1153', '§ 1111', '§ 1111']

430 US 641 United States v. Antelope
Home > 430 US 641 United States v. Antelope
430 US 641 United States v. Antelope 430 U.S. 641
97 S.Ct. 1395
51 L.Ed.2d 701
UNITED STATES, Petitioner,v.Gabriel Francis ANTELOPE et al.
Respondents, enrolled Coeur d'Alene Indians, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of burglary, robbery, and murder of a non-Indian within the boundaries of their reservation. One respondent was convicted of second-degree murder only; the other two were convicted of all three crimes as charged, including first-degree murder under the felony-murder provisions of the federal-enclave murder statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1111, as made applicable to Indians by the Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1153. The Court of Appeals reversed on the ground that respondents had been denied their constitutional rights under the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The court agreed with respondents' contention that their felony-murder convictions were racially discriminatory since a non-Indian charged with the same crime would have been subject to prosecution only under Idaho law, under which premeditation and deliberation would have had to be proved, whereas no such elements were required under the felony-murder provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 1111. Held : Respondent Indians were not deprived of the equal protection of the laws. Pp. 645-650.
(a) The federal criminal statutes enforced here are based neither in whole nor in part upon impermissible racial classifications. Federal regulation of Indian tribes is rooted in the unique status of Indians as "a separate people" with their own political institutions, and is not to be viewed as legislation of a " 'racial' group consisting of 'Indians'. . . ." Morton v. Mancari, 417 U.S. 535, 553 n. 24, 94 S.Ct. 2474, 2484, 41 L.Ed.2d 290. Pp. 645-647.
John W. Walker, Moscow, Idaho, for respondents Leonard and William Davison.
Allen V. Bowles, Moscow, Idaho, for respondent Gabriel Antelope.
On the night of February 18, 1974, respondents, enrolled Coeur d'Alene Indians, broke into the home of Emma Johnson, an 81-year-old non-Indian, in Worley, Idaho; they robbed and killed Mrs. Johnson. Because the crimes were committed by enrolled Indians within the boundaries of the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation, respondents were subject to federal jurisdiction under the Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1153.1 They were, accordingly, indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of burglary, robbery, and murder.2 Respondent William Davison was convicted of second-degree murder only. Respondents Gabriel Francis Antelope and Leonard Davison were found guilty of all three crimes as charged, including first-degree murder under the felony-murder provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 1111,3 as made applicable to enrolled Indians by 18 U.S.C. § 1153.
In the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, respondents contended that their felony-murder convictions were unlawful as products of invidious racial discrimination. They argued that a non-Indian charged with precisely the same offense, namely the murder of another non-Indian within Indian country,4 would have been subject to prosecution only under Idaho law, which in contrast to the federal murder statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1111, does not contain a felony-murder provision.5 To establish the crime of first-degree murder in state court, therefore, Idaho would have had to prove premeditation and deliberation. No such elements were required under the felony-murder component of 18 U.S.C. § 1111.
Because of the difference between Idaho and federal law, the Court of Appeals concluded that respondents were "put at a serious racially-based disadvantage," 523 F.2d 400, 406 (1975), since the Federal Government was not required to establish premeditation and deliberation in respondents' federal prosecution. This disparity, so the Court of Appeals concluded, violated equal protection requirements implicit in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. We granted the United States' petition for certiorari, 424 U.S. 907, 96 S.Ct. 1100, 47 L.Ed.2d 311 (1976), and we reverse.
The decisions of this Court leave no doubt that federal legislation with respect to Indian tribes, although relating to Indians as such, is not based upon impermissible racial classifications. Quite the contrary, classifications expressly singling out Indian tribes as subjects of legislation are expressly provided for in the Constitution6 and supported by the ensuing history of the Federal Government's relation