State Court Terminates Criminal Cases againt Tulalip Treaty Fishermen

MT. VERNON, Wash. - On July 17, 2019, Skagit County Superior Court Judge Brian Stiles terminated felony cases against both Tulalip Indian fisherman Hazen Shopbell and Anthony Paul after Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) violated their constitutional rights by seizing and destroying over a thousand pounds of treaty harvested bait clams without a search warrant. Skagit County immediately appealed the decision to the Washington Court of Appeals.

"These cases are the very latest political crusade by WDFW and Attorney General Bob Ferguson against Indian Treaty fishing and commerce rights," said Shopbell's counsel Gabriel Galanda. "Knowing better than to pick a federal court fight with the Tribes, the State pressures county prosecutors to charge tribal members with specious criminal charges."

https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/state-court-terminates-criminal-cases-againt-tulalip-treaty-fishermen/