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Suit filed against Indian Affairs panel |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 01 July 2010 |
Suit filed against Indian Affairs panel
Motion claims group defied 'open meetings law'
By Tom Humphrey
Knoxville News Sentinel
July 1, 2010
NASHVILLE - A lawsuit filed Wednesday contends the Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs violated the state's "open meetings law" in two ways when granting recognition to six Indian tribes earlier this month.
The lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court by Nashville attorney Bob Tuke, asks that the state recognition granted on June 19 be declared "void and without effect."
It lists Mark Greene as plaintiff in his capacity as a Tennessee resident and lobbyist for the Oklahoma-based Cherokee Nation, a federally recognized tribe that has adamantly opposed state recognition.
The lawsuit was filed on the last day that the Commission on Indian Affairs will legally exist. It was to officially "sunset" at midnight. State law requires that all state boards and commissions be periodically renewed by the Legislature.
A bill to grant the commission a new lease on life failed during the 2010 legislative session. Lawmakers also rejected a bill that would have granted official recognition to the six tribes through the General Assembly.
Chairman Tammera Hicks, chairman of the Commission of Indian Affairs, and others say that the statute creating the commission more than 20 years ago specifically granted the panel power to recognize tribes within the state.
But the lawsuit contends the commission broke the state "open meetings law" by failing to give adequate notice of what was planned at the June 19 commission meeting and by deliberating in secret prior to the vote rather than publicly as the law required.
Tuke, who has been retained by the Cherokee Nation, said other grounds for challenging the commission's action were considered, but the action was narrowed because "we had such an open shot under open records.
"They just violated it blatantly," said Tuke, a former state chairman of the Democratic Party and the party's nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2008 against Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander.
The lawsuit says notice of the June 19 meeting "mislead the public" by giving no indication that recognition of tribes was to be considered. In an affidavit, Tuke also says he was told by an attorney for the commission that recognition would not be considered at the meeting.
Even though the agenda for the meeting did not mention recognition, the lawsuit says, the commission had in advance "secretly discussed and agreed" to approve recognition.
State attorneys have 30 days to file a response to the lawsuit, after which a hearing may be scheduled.
The lawsuit quotes Greene as saying that the commission members "huddled together and spoke in hushed tones" at the meeting, which he attended, and when he and others stepped closer to hear, they were told to return to their seats.
In an interview, Greene also questioned the legitimacy of the recognized tribes.
"The process was as bogus as the six tribes that were approved," he said.
The commission action granted recognition to the Remnant Yuchi Nation; the "United Eastern Lenape Nation of Winfield, Tenn.; the Chikamaka Band; the Central Band of Cherokee; the Cherokee Wolf Clan; and the Tanasi Council.
Besides voiding the commission's actions, the lawsuit asks the court to issue an injunction forbidding the panel "and any other agency or instrumentality of the state of Tennessee to take any action to enforce, publicize or promote the commission's purported action."
A grant of state recognition, which has occurred in several other states, allows members of the recognized tribe to apply for various federal government grants and benefits and to market goods they produce as made by American Indians.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/jul/01/suit-filed-against-indian-affairs-panel/ |
