Opinion ID: 2128105
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Background Concerning Public Law 280

Text: [1] By enacting Public Law 280 in 1953, Congress granted Nebraska jurisdiction over criminal offenses committed by or against Indians in Indian country. Public Law 280 is now codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1162(a) (2000), which provides that Nebraska shall have jurisdiction over offenses committed by or against Indians in the areas of Indian country . . . to the same extent that [Nebraska] has jurisdiction over offenses committed elsewhere within [Nebraska], and the criminal laws of [Nebraska] shall have the same force and effect within such Indian country as they have elsewhere within [Nebraska]. The record shows that the gas station is in Knox County, Nebraska, within the Santee Sioux NationIndian countrywhich brings the robbery within the purview of Public Law 280. [2, 3] In 1968, Congress provided for the voluntary abandonment of the jurisdiction granted by Public Law 280. [2] In 2001, the Nebraska Legislature offered retrocession of criminal and civil jurisdiction over the Santee Sioux Reservation. [3] We note that the Legislature's resolution called for an effective date of July 1, 2001, but retrocession is not effective until the federal government accepts it. [4] The federal government did not immediately accept the Legislature's 2001 offer of retrocession; it was not effective until February 15, 2006. [5] The retrocession, therefore, was not yet effective when the robbery occurred in April 2005 or when the State charged Wabashaw in the district court that same month. [4, 5] In a case involving retrocession of jurisdiction over a different reservation, we considered the effect of retrocession on pending cases and crimes committed before acceptance. [6] We decided that Nebraska did not abandon jurisdiction over crimes committed before the federal government's acceptance of retrocession. [7] So, any jurisdiction the State had over the robbery under Public Law 280 in 2005 was not lost when the retrocession became effective in 2006.