Practicing law in Indian Country is a unique experience. I once had a tribal judge deny a motion to suppress in a possession of marijuana case because she thought my client did in fact possess the marijuana. I also did a change of plea once where the judge asked my client if he wished to change his plea, and after my client said “yes,” the judge said “okay, done” and called the next case. Tribal criminal codes are equally interesting. Where I’ve practiced, murder, possession of marijuana, and running a pyramid scheme are all punishable by a maximum of one year in custody. However, one year is not necessarily the max in tribal jurisdictions, as judges can and do stack counts, and the federal government often steps … Read entire article »