Lakota Country Times: Legal 'victory' for reservation residents

PINE RIDGE—The South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that an order issued by former Seventh Circuit Presiding Judge Jeff Davis that deprived Oglala Lakota County residents of the right to sit on trial juries in cases originating in their county is illegal.

“This is a victory for the residents of Oglala Lakota County,” said Charles Abourezk, a longtime indigenous rights lawyer who was one of the two attorneys from Abourezk Law Firm who challenged the order.

In 2009, Judge Davis issued a standing order that essentially prevented residents of Oglala Lakota County from exercising their right to serve on a jury in cases that arose and would ordinarily be tried in their county. Oglala Lakota County is located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the state of South Dakota does not have a county office located within the boundaries of the county that sits within the borders of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

http://www.indianz.com/News/2015/019643.asp