American Indian sovereignty and the U.S. Supreme Court : the masking of justice / David E. Wilkins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilkins, David E. (David Eugene), 1954-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Supreme Court.

United States.

Indians of North America--Legal status, laws, etc.

Indians of North America.

Justice, Administration of--United States.

Justice, Administration of.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (421 p.)

Edition:

1st University of Texas Press ed.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 1997.

Summary:

"Like the miner's canary, the Indian marks the shift from fresh air to poison gas in our political atmosphere; and our treatment of Indians, even more than our treatment of other minorities, reflects the rise and fall in our democratic faith," wrote Felix S. Cohen, an early expert in Indian legal affairs. In this book, David Wilkins charts the "fall in our democratic faith" through fifteen landmark cases in which the Supreme Court significantly curtailed Indian rights. He offers compelling evidence that Supreme Court justices selectively used precedents and facts, both historical and contemporary, to arrive at decisions that have undermined tribal sovereignty, legitimated massive tribal land losses, sanctioned the diminishment of Indian religious rights, and curtailed other rights as well. These case studies—and their implications for all minority groups—make important and troubling reading at a time when the Supreme Court is at the vortex of political and moral developments that are redefining the nature of American government, transforming the relationship between the legal and political branches, and altering the very meaning of federalism.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER I. Legal Masks, Legal Consciousness

CHAPTER 2. The Era of Defining Tribes, Their Lands, and Their Sovereignty

CHAPTER 3. The Era of Congressional Ascendancy over Tribes: 1886-1903

CHAPTER 4. The Era of "Myths": Citizenship, Nomadism, and Moral Progress

CHAPTER 5. The Era of Judicial Backlash and Land Claims

CHAPTER 6. The Era of the Imperial Judiciary

CHAPTER 7. Removing the Masks

APPENDIX A. Cases Cited

APPENDIX B. Supreme Court Justices Authoring the Fifteen Opinions Analyzed

Notes

Glossary

References

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [379]-389) and index.

ISBN:

0-292-79996-9

OCLC:

44959653