Tribal appeals court shut down

TOPPENISH -- Due process may be hard to come by in Yakama Nation tribal court as a chief appellate court judge on Thursday ordered that the appellate court be closed, citing a lack of money.

Chief Appellate Court Judge Ne'Sha Jackson sent out a memo alerting appellate court judges of the shutdown and ordering them to clean out their downtown offices.

Jackson couldn't be reached for comment.

Appellate court judges Julian Pinkham and Ray Slockish Sr. said they questioned the validity of the memo, saying that it wasn't issued by the tribe's budget and finance committee or its law and order committee, which oversees tribal court.

Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Ralph Sampson Jr. said he wasn't aware of any closure.

"I haven't seen any official action done," he said, noting that he didn't want to comment on any interoffice memo he hasn't seen.

It's not the first time the court was shut down. Because of a lack of funding, it was shut down in 2000 and remained closed until 2006. At that time, there was a backlog of 54 appeals.

Over the past two years, judges worked through most of those appeals, but more have accumulated, Pinkham said.

"We don't know how many appeals came in this year," he said, noting that Jackson suspended all appellate hearings in November.

He estimated there are 15 to 20 appeals cases that still need to be heard.

Tribal court hears misdemeanor and civil cases, and the appellate court reviews any rulings that are disputed. The tribe is responsible for funding the appellate court and its employees through cigarette tax revenues.

A report issued by the National Indian Justice Center revealed in 2005 that the Yakama tribal court suffered from daily breaches of confidentiality, conflicts of interest, a backlog of cases and the lack of any appeals process.

Many of those problems have yet to be remedied, said Slockish, former chief appellate judge.

He said both he and Pinkham were left out of a meeting with tribal leaders in which Jackson was named chief judge.

He said he's filed grievances with tribal leaders against Jackson, alleging that she has been serving as a judge in two lower courts and working as a tribal attorney and a judge on the appellate bench. He also questions her work hours and said she has only presided over two appeals since being appointed to the appellate bench more than two years ago.