Pubdate: Thu, 08 Feb 2007
Source: Asheville Citizen-Times (NC)
Copyright: 2007 Asheville Citizen-Times
Contact:  http://www.citizen-times.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/863
Author: Jon Ostendorff

TRIBE TO BANISH DRUG DEALERS

CHEROKEE -- A tribal law awaiting ratification would banish members 
of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians from the reservation if 
convicted of dealing drugs.

Members would have to petition for court permission to return under 
the law. Nontribal members would be escorted off the Cherokee Indian 
Reservation immediately if they are suspected of selling drugs.

The law is a radical step for the tribe. The 13,500 members of the 
Eastern Band identify themselves culturally with their homeland.

"Tribal communities such as ours have remained a cohesive group for 
thousands of years," spokeswoman Lynne Harlan said. "Potential 
banishment is a serious issue because it disenfranchises the 
individuals from this tribal community and often their families."

Tribal Council passed the Controlled Substances Act last week. 
Principal Chief Michell Hicks is expected to sign off on the law in April.

"The law shows that the tribe will not shrink from asserting its full 
legal authority to arrest, prosecute, sentence and remove drug 
offenders from tribal land," he said in a statement Wednesday. "Our 
communities deserve the protections this law provides."

The new law also would strengthen the tribe's ability to convict and 
punish drug dealers by imposing minimum mandatory jail time for 
people convicted of crimes involving drugs.

The Upper Sioux Community in Minnesota passed similar measures last 
year, and the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe in Nevada was considering 
a banishment law. The Lummi Nation of Washington and the Chippewa of 
Grand Portage, Minn., have also banished drug dealers.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman