And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 01:41:33 -0500 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Judge puts Indian tribe in driver's seat State, Potawatomis must negotiate tribal license plates. Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" http://cjonline.com/stories/092499/kan_tribalplates.shtml Judge puts Indian tribe in driver's seat State, Potawatomis must negotiate tribal license plates. By CARL MANNING The Associated Press A federal judge issued an order Thursday blocking the state from enforcing its motor vehicle registration laws against the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians who drive with tribal tags on their vehicles. U.S. District Judge Dale E. Saffels also ordered the tribe and officials of the Kansas Department of Revenue and Kansas Highway Patrol to negotiate over the question of whether tribal members can travel off the 121-square-mile reservation in Jackson County with their Potawatomi plates. In a recent lawsuit, the Potawatomis maintain they are a federally recognized Indian tribe with sovereign powers within their reservation based on numerous treaties, court decisions and federal law. As such, they say they have the right to issue their own license plates. The revenue department, which issues Kansas license plates and enforces motor vehicle registration laws, maintains it is following a state law that doesn't allow the agency to recognize the tribal tags off the reservation. Defendants in the case are Secretary of Revenue Karla Pierce; Sheila Walker, director of vehicles;, and Col. Don Brownlee, Kansas Highway Patrol superintendent. "The court finds that if the defendants are not enjoined from enforcing the Kansas motor vehicle registration and titling laws pending the outcome of this case, the plaintiff would suffer irreparable injury," Saffels' seven-page order said. Saffels also ordered both sides to participate in settlement conference in an effort to reach compromise. That conference must occur within 45 days and will be overseen by U.S. Magistrate Karen Humphreys, of Wichita. "The court finds that it may hasten the resolution of this case if the parties participate in mediation," the order said. In a statement, Pierce said, "It is the department's position that the temporary restraining order applies only to law enforcement actions (the issuing of tickets) and not to the administrative processes of the Division of Motor Vehicles." "However, with that said, this is just one step in a long process to reach a final resolution to this case. Simply put, this is a marathon, not a sprint," Pierce said. In recent months, some tribal members have driven on state highways with Potawatomi tags in hopes of getting at least one ticket to set the stage for a test case. The lawsuit was filed by the tribe after one of its members was ticketed for driving on a state highway with a tribal tag. Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
