Opinion ID: 164933
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Tribal Proceedings

Text: 2 This case arises from a dispute among officials of the Kaw Nation of Oklahoma (the Tribe), a federally recognized Indian tribe. The Tribe adopted its present constitution in 1990 under authority granted by the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936. Under this constitution the Tribe has two legislative bodies, a seven-member Executive Council and a General Council composed of all adult tribal members. Among the Executive Council's powers is that of selecting judges to the Tribe's supreme and inferior courts. Those selected must then be confirmed by the General Council. The individual Plaintiffs are members of the Tribe and are or were members of its Executive Council. Apparently, Clyde McCauley and Clark Pepper have been removed from the Executive Council, and Martha Spotted Bear and Jesse Mehojah are the subject of removal proceedings. 3 The Executive Council selected Defendant Phil Lujan as judge of the KNDC on June 8, 2002. Plaintiffs contend that he was not properly confirmed under the Tribe's constitution and hence may not exercise judicial authority. Plaintiff McCauley first challenged Lujan's judicial authority in early November 2002. Lujan rejected McCauley's argument on November 7, 2002, ruling that he was properly appointed under tribal rules of procedure establishing the Court by Tribal law, rather than under the Tribe's constitution. Aplt.App. at 91 (internal quotation marks omitted). 4 Defendants Charles Tripp and Charles Morris have served as justices of the Kaw Nation Supreme Court since 1999. Plaintiffs contend that the two men were not properly selected or confirmed as justices. According to the district court, it is unclear whether they were ever selected by the Executive Council; but Morris was confirmed by the General Council on September 12, 1999, and the General Council has indicated that it confirmed Tripp on June 27, 1999. 5 On December 5, 2002, Defendant Guy Munroe, the Tribe's chairman, filed suit in the KNDC to remove the individual Plaintiffs from the Executive Council. Lujan, acting as a KNDC judge, enjoined the individual Plaintiffs from voting as members of the Council. On December 12, 2002, the Executive Council passed resolutions withdrawing its prior motion to select Lujan and instructing the court clerk to cease sending case information to Lujan, Morris, and Tripp. Nevertheless, the General Council confirmed Lujan on December 15, 2002. A hearing in the KNDC was scheduled for January 13, 2003, on charges that the individual Plaintiffs committed contempt by violating the injunctions.