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1 1 (December 14, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govddav0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ~* Conr~q ess Research Servi High Court to Review Tribal Police Search and Seizure Case December 14, 2020 On November 20, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court added United States v. Cooley to the cases it will hear this term. Cooley brings into focus the juris dictional maze complicating criminal law enforcement on Indian reservations. The Court is to evaluate whether (or to what extent) a tribal police officer may detain and search a non-Indian on a public highway running through an Indian reservation. More specifically, the parties disagree about the scope of atribalpolice officer's authority to investigate-through questioning or search-when criminal behavior is reasonably suspected, but is not apparent or obvious. This case implicates the c onstitutionalright to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, but it also raises questions about the scope of tribal sovereignty and tribes' authority to protect their lands and members from criminal activity. Congress may wish to consider legislation to clarify the rights and responsibilities of tribal and non-Indian parties when conflicts like this arise. In Cooley, Crow Tribal Police Officer James Saylor noticed a vehicle stopped with the engine running on the shoulder of a public highway within the Crow Reservation. James Joshua Cooley and his young child were in inside. Although Cooley appeared to be non-native, Officer Saylor questioned him about why he was stopped, and Cooley's answers and subsequent agitation raised the officer's suspicions. When Officer Saylor observed behavior he believed consistent with Cooley preparing to use force, Officer Saylor drew his weapon and ordered Cooley out of the vehicle. Officer Saylor noticed a loaded pistol near Cooley's seat and later spotted drug paraphernalia while securing Cooley's vehicle. After detaining Cooley in the patrol car, Officer Saylor called for both tribal and local (non-tribal) backup. An additional search of the vehicle revealed more drugs. Cooley was charged in federal court with drug and weapons crimes, but successfully moved to suppress the physical evidence by challenging Officer Saylor's authority to detain him or to search his vehicle. Before discussing the lower court decisions and Supreme Court petition, this Sidebar will briefly describe how the courts have distinguished tribal authority for conducting investigations of non-Indians within an Indian reservation from general non-tribal police authority to conduct searches and seizures. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10561 CRS Legal Siebar Prepared for Membersand Commi ----es o Cong rss-----------------------------------

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