Amicus: Judging Tribal Courts

A little over a decade ago, a Choctaw Indian boy working in a Dollar General store says he was sexually abused by his supervisor. But when his family filed a lawsuit in the Choctaw tribal court, Dollar General objected, arguing that Indian courts don’t have jurisdiction to hear tort cases against non-Indians. The case worked its way up to the Supreme Court, where it was argued earlier this month as Dollar General Corporation v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

On this episode, we are joined by attorney Mary Kathyrn Nagle, who authored an amicus brief on behalf of the Choctaws. She explains that while the Supreme Court has been chipping away at the tribal court system for several decades, the court was not always so hostile to claims of Indian sovereignty.

http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/amicus/2015/12/the_supreme_court_takes_up_native_american_sovereignty.html