Court Opinion

ID: 9461333
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:11:46.049241+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:00.426817
License: Public Domain

LAY, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent.
Under our Constitution, a treaty has the same status as an Act of Congress and that body may, by the enactment of a subsequent law, abrogate or modify a prior treaty. Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 553, 23 S.Ct. 216, 47 L.Ed. 299 (1903); Head Money Cases, 112 U.S. 580, 5 S.Ct. 247, 28 L.Ed. 780 (1884). A later statute must be harmonized with existing treaties to the extent possible and “the intention to abrogate or modify a treaty is not to be lightly imputed to Congress,” Menominee Tribe v. United States, 391 U.S. 404, 413, 88 S.Ct. 1705, 1711, 20 L.Ed.2d 697 (1968), but this does not mean that intention may be ignored when it is apparent from both the subject matter and wording of the statute. Thomas v. Gay, 169 U.S. 264, 18 S.Ct. 340, 42 L.Ed. 740 (1898); The Cherokee Tobacco, 78 U.S. (11 Wall.) 616, 20 L.Ed. 227 (1870). The absence of express words of abrogation is not decisive. It has long been the rule that a subsequent inconsistent law which cannot be reconciled with a prior treaty is deemed to abrogate the treaty to the extent of the inconsistency without specific words of abrogation.1 See Reid v. Covert, 354 U.S. 1, 18, 77 S.Ct. 1222, 1 L.Ed.2d 1148 (1957); Whitney v. Robertson, 124 U.S. 190, 8 S.Ct. 456, 31 L.Ed. 386 (1888); The Head Money Cases, 112 U.S. 580, 5 S.Ct. 247, 28 L.Ed. 780 (1884); The Cherokee Tobacco, 78 U.S. (11 Wall.) 616, 20 L.Ed. 227 (1878); Navajo Tribe v. NLRB, 109 U.S.App.D.C. 378, 288 F.2d 162 (1961); Seneca Nation of Indians v. Brucker, 104 U.S.App.D.C. 315, 262 F.2d 27 (1958); Ex parte Green, 123 F.2d 862 (2d Cir. 1941).
In Menominee Tribe v. United States, 391 U.S. 404, 88 S.Ct. 1705, 20 L.Ed.2d 697 (1968), the principle case on which the majority relies, the question was whether the Termination Act, 25 U.S.C. §§ 891 — 902, abrogated the hunting and fishing rights traditionally enjoyed by the Menominee Tribe in Wisconsin. In deciding that it did not, the'court did not rely solely on the absence of specific reference to hunting and fishing rights in the legislative history. Rather, it focused on the wording of the act and its stated purpose. It found the act was only intended to “provide for the ‘orderly termination of Federal supervision over the property and members’ ” of the tribe and that it contained absolutely no mention of hunting or fishing rights. It was on the basis of all three factors, legislative history, statutory wording and stated purpose, that the court concluded there was no intention to abrogate the Menominees’ treaty rights.
The majority here, however, limits their analysis of § 668 to the fact that there is no express reference, either within § 668 or its legislative history, to modification of the defendant’s treaty right to hunt eagles. Overlooked is the broad wording and the pervasive purpose which the act is intended to fulfill — the protection of the bald and golden eagles.
*460Both the House and the Senate Report explained the purpose of the original § 668 by quoting from a letter from the Acting Secretary of Agriculture, dated March 3, 1939, which reads:
It is apparent to this Department from its long observations with respect to the wildlife of this country that there are those in any community in which an eagle may appear who are immediately seized with a determination to kill it for no other reason than that it is an eagle and a bird of large proportions. It is equally apparent that if the destruction of the eagle and its eggs continues as in the past this bird will wholly disappear from much the larger part of its former range and eventually will become extinct.
From an esthetic point of view there can be no question as to the desirability of protecting the eagle. Its status as the emblem of the sovereignty of the United States settles that; the bird should be a ward of the National Government. Real lovers of nature, of which there are millions in this country now, count it a red-letter day when they see an eagle, and they are united in support of legislation such as is proposed in this bill. They would regret beyond expression to see the now evident process of extinction of this bird continue and fervently hope that it can be checked for all time by the Congress of the United States.2
H.R.Rep.No.2104, 76th Cong., 3d Sess. 1 (1940).
In 1962 the statute was amended to extend the same protection to the golden eagle and to allow the taking of birds of either species “for the religious purposes of Indian tribes” upon compliance with specified procedures.3
The joint resolution of Congress, affixed as a preamble to that amendment, is significant. It reads:
Joint Resolution to provide protection for the golden eagle.
WHEREAS the population of the golden eagle has declined at such an alarming rate that it is now threatened with extinction; and
WHEREAS the golden eagle should be preserved because of its value to agriculture in the control of rodents; and
WHEREAS protection of the golden eagle will afford greater protection for the bald eagle, the national symbol of the United States of America, because the bald eagle is often killed by persons mistaking it for the golden eagle: Now, therefore, be it
1962 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News, p. 1453.
In 1972 Congress, again aroused by the useless destruction and possible extinction of these great birds, amended the act to increase the penalty against and *461to lessen the degree of knowledge required to convict violators. Again, the purpose of the enactment can be found in a letter from one of its many proponents. After the act passed the House of Representatives, Nathanial P. Reed, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, wrote Senator Magnuson, Chairman of the Committee on Commerce:
There exist but 10 — 20,000 golden eagles in North America, and 20-30,000 northern bald eagles. The prompt enactment of H.R. 12186 will help to protect these majestic birds, aptly described by the Congress in 1940 as “a symbol of the American ideals of freedom.”
1972 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News, pp. 4292-4293.
The 1972 amendment also provided for the forfeiture of vehicles, planes, etc., used in violating the act, and incorporated the specific language of Section 5 of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, as amended, previously incorporated only by reference, which allows an employee of the Department of the Interior to enforce the provisions of the act by arresting “any person” violating the act.
In view of the continuing concern over the possible extinction of these species of eagles manifested by Congress, both in the original Act and its several amendments, it is unrealistic to urge now that Congress did not intend, within the all-encompassing words of prohibition, to include Indians such as the defendant who enjoy a general treaty right to hunt on their reservations. It is difficult to understand how the language Congress used could be given limited application. It is difficult to perceive how Congress could be more explicit when the prohibitions now extend to “whoever; within the United States or any place subject to its jurisdiction . . . ” These words are hardly ambiguous or equivocal. Viewing the avowed purpose of the legislation, they leave no room for construction or interpretation.4 Cf. United States v. Laudani, 320 U.S. 543, 64 S.Ct. 315, 88 L.Ed. 300 (1944) (“whoever” defined in terms of the purpose of the Kickback Act).
Unlike revenue laws (cf. Squire v. Capoeman, 351 U.S. 1, 76 S.Ct. 611, 100 L.Ed. 883 (1956)) which generally contain numerous exceptions premised upon the varying goals of the legislatures which passed them, a conservation statute will achieve its purpose only if it applies to everyone. The Supreme Court recognized this fact in discussing a state’s regulation of off-reservation fishing rights of Indians acquired under a treaty in Kennedy v. Becker, 241 U.S. 556, 36 S.Ct. 705, 60 L.Ed. 1166 (1916):
It is said that the state would regulate the whites and that the Indian tribe would regulate its members, but if neither could exercise authority with respect to the other at the locus in quo, either would be free to destroy the subject of the power. Such a duality of sovereignty, instead of maintaining in each the essential power of preservation would in fact deny it to both.
Id. at 563, 36 S.Ct. at 707.
*462See also Puyallup Tribe v. Department of Game, 391 U.S. 392, 88 S.Ct. 1725, 20 L.Ed.2d 689 (1968); Tulee v. Washington, 315 U.S. 681, 62 S.Ct. 862, 86 L.Ed. 1115 (1942).
Congress obviously recognized the dire need for legislation and realized that conservation can be accomplished only by the enactment of a law which applies to all persons, prior treaties notwithstanding. I would reverse the district court’s dismissal and remand the case for trial.

. The holding in United States v. Cutler, 37 F.Supp. 724 (D.Idaho 1941), to the effect that treaty provisions can preclude amendment by an Act of Congress is clearly in error. See Anderson v. Gladden, 293 F.2d 463 (9th Cir. 1961).

. The preamble to the original act stated:
Whereas the Continental Congress in 1782 adopted the bald eagle as the national symbol; and
Whereas the bald eagle thus became the symbolic representation of a new nation under a new government in a new world; and
Whereas by that Act of Congress and by tradition and custom during the life of this Nation, the bald eagle is no longer a mere bird of biological interest but a symbol of the American ideals of freedom; and
Whereas the bald eagle is now threatened with extinction: Therefore
Be it enacted * * *, etc.
June 8, 1940, c. 278, § 1, 54 Stat. 250.

. The terms of the 1962 amendment exempting eagles taken for religious purposes of Indians cannot of course be used to change the original meaning of § 668. The amendment is, nevertheless, at least under the majority’s approach, relevant to our consideration. Assuming the original statute is ambiguous, as the majority maintains (a premise upon which we are in disagreement), a subsequent amendment can be useful in resolving ambiguity in statutory construction. See State Highway Commission v. Volpe, 479 F.2d 1099, 1116 (8th Cir. 1973); 2 A. Sutherland, Statutory Construction § 482(d) (3d ed. 1945). Thus, the recognition by Congress in 1962 that Indians should be permitted to take eagles for religious purposes is strong indication that Congress originally meant what it said and that the term “whoever” included all persons who take the eagle from its natural habitat, whether by treaty rights or otherwise.

. While it may once have been the law that general statutes did not apply to Indians, it is now well recognized that general laws, which by their terms apply to all, apply to Indians, at least in their property interests. Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation, 362 U.S. 99, 115-116, 80 S.Ct. 543, 4 L.Ed.2d 584 (1960). Fishing and hunting rights are property rights. Menominee Tribe v. United States, 391 U.S. 404, 88 S.Ct. 1705, 20 L.Ed.2d 697 (1968). Thus, the wording of the statute strongly indicates a congressional intent that it apply to everyone. Cf. Head v. Hunter, 141 F.2d 449 (10th Cir. 1944).
* * * There is nothing in the legislation to indicate, or from which it can be inferred that the jurisdiction of the United States was restricted in respect to crimes which are generally applicable throughout the United States to all persons. We are cited to no Act, and find none, indicating an intention to except this appellant or his tribe from the scope of the Act creating and defining the offense. Appellant is charged with an offense against the laws of the United States which is generally applicable to all persons wherever committed
Id. at 451.
And see more recently our approval of this language in Stone v. United States, 506 F.2d 561 (8th Cir. 1974).