“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Many of life's circumstances are created by three basic choices: the disciplines you choose to keep, the people you choose to be with; and, the laws you choose to obey.” - Charles Millhuff
Face it, this is not an easy time for the people of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. (See the Messenger website for details.)
My editor always says, "There are always two sides to every story and the truth is usually somewhere in between." I believe that to be true.
Some pretty serious accusations have been made of late. The rest of the great big world is worrying about certain issues of great importance. The word "economy" has become a dirty word. The stock market is crashing. The Petters investigation has become national news and the upcoming presidential election is complicated with mud-slinging by each candidate.
There is a bit of mud-slinging going on in our little corner of the world regarding one of the most important issues to hit this region, and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in at least 25 to 30 years. That is just my opinion. I haven't been here for that many years. But this is serious.
The removal of a tribal elected official, specifically the Chief Executive, is comparable to the impeachment of a United States President. The matter should be looked at and scrutinized very carefully. Challenges should be made and argued.
The removal of Melanie Benjamin as Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band is being challenged. I would expect nothing less.
It might be hard for some people to understand traditions and culture that differ from our own. But I am almost certain that within every culture there is embedded into the souls of the people an intricate balance of knowing right from wrong.
We teach our children from a very young age the difference between right and wrong. When they grow up, we hope they use that knowledge from our teachings and what they have learned at school and in life, to make the right choice when forced to decide what is right and what is wrong.
We hope they make decisions that come from the heart.
I applaud those who stand up for what they believe and don't back down when times are tough. These are tough times for the people of the Mille Lacs Band.
I don't know who is right and who is wrong in this particular instance. It is certainly a test of adherence to moral and ethical principles all the way around. But I applaud both sides for standing firm to their beliefs.
There is a hearing on Monday in Tribal Court. Challenges have been made. Arguments need to be heard. And decisions must now be made.
Peace.
"Give us clear vision, that we may know where to stand and what to stand for - because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything."
~ Peter Marshall, US Senate Chaplain 1947
Showing posts with label Melanie Benjamin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Melanie Benjamin. Show all posts
Friday, October 10, 2008
Statement by Melanie Benjamin
This just in:
A press release has been issued for immediate release on behalf of Melanie Benjamin of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. I have posted it here in its entirety. It was written by or on behalf of Melanie Benjamin. I did not write it. But I believe firmly in freedom of speech. Benjamin is entitled to this freedom of speech.
BENJAMIN WILL HAVE DAY IN MILLE LACS TRIBAL COURT
Onamia, MN – Despite the efforts of a Band attorney, Melanie Benjamin will in fact have her day in court at a public hearing set for 8:30 a.m. on Monday, October 13, 2008. A judicial panel is scheduled to hear arguments about why proceedings removing her from office as the Band’s Chief Executive on October 8 were illegal. Benjamin was just re-elected in June, 2008, with 60% of the vote.
In a meeting with Solicitor General Rjay Brunkow in his office on September 30, Benjamin and Brunkow discussed Legislative Branch plans to hold an October 8 hearing to remove Benjamin from office. When Benjamin asked about her right to due process, Brunkow stated, “You are not entitled to due process. This is the end of the road.”
“I was stunned,” said Benjamin. “As tribal leaders, much of our time is spent dispelling myths out there that constitutional protections and civil rights don’t apply in Indian country. And here was the lead attorney for the Band who is supposed to know something about the law telling me that I had no right to due process.” Benjamin has denied any wrong-doing.
Attorney Bill Gardner, who served as Counsel to the Chief Executive, was in the room with Benjamin. “What he said was so astonishing I couldn’t believe he was serious.” Gardner questioned Brunkow regarding procedural due process and protection of property interests, insisting Band laws required a minimum amount of fairness in any hearing. “He insisted that the Chief was not entitled to due process. He made clear that when the decision was made by her accusers, that was the end of the road for her.”
Gardner said when it became obvious Brunkow wouldn’t change his mind, they notified Brunkow they would proceed to court.
Court Order Ignored
The Band Assembly had circulated a petition calling for the removal of Benjamin citing several accusations. Benjamin has denied the accusations. A legislative hearing and vote of Band Assembly was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on October 8, 2008.
Prior to the hearing, Chief Justice Alvina Aubele of the Court of Central Jurisdiction issued a stay delaying the proceedings until constitutional protections could be assured. In a move that startled the Minnesota Indian legal community, the Band Assembly chose to ignore the court order, buoyed by Brunkow’s extraordinary assurance that Band Assembly was above the law and the court had no authority over them. Brunkow has attempted to defend his claim in a recent interview with the Mille Lacs Messenger (October 8, 2008, Mille Lacs Messenger).
Many experts are concerned about the legal implications of this move and the message being sent to tribal members and the outside public. “This is now a crisis of constitutional proportion. The legal process should be allowed to play out. We don’t just take the law into our own hands,” said Jay Kanassatega, of Leonard Street and Deinard, who helped write the Statutes in the 1980’s.
Benjamin is saddened to see decades of work positioning the Band as a progressive tribal government undone. “There are people, elders, who spent years working on the separation-of-power system of government we have in place at Mille Lacs and they’re in shock. If the Chief of the tribe has no due process, what about the average Band Member? How are Band Members to go into tribal court and show respect for our court’s decisions when they know the Band’s own lawyer and elected officials don’t show the same respect?”
The public hearing will take place at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, October 13, 2008, in tribal court chambers on the Mille Lacs Reservation.
* * * End of Press Release. * * *
A press release has been issued for immediate release on behalf of Melanie Benjamin of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. I have posted it here in its entirety. It was written by or on behalf of Melanie Benjamin. I did not write it. But I believe firmly in freedom of speech. Benjamin is entitled to this freedom of speech.
BENJAMIN WILL HAVE DAY IN MILLE LACS TRIBAL COURT
Onamia, MN – Despite the efforts of a Band attorney, Melanie Benjamin will in fact have her day in court at a public hearing set for 8:30 a.m. on Monday, October 13, 2008. A judicial panel is scheduled to hear arguments about why proceedings removing her from office as the Band’s Chief Executive on October 8 were illegal. Benjamin was just re-elected in June, 2008, with 60% of the vote.
In a meeting with Solicitor General Rjay Brunkow in his office on September 30, Benjamin and Brunkow discussed Legislative Branch plans to hold an October 8 hearing to remove Benjamin from office. When Benjamin asked about her right to due process, Brunkow stated, “You are not entitled to due process. This is the end of the road.”
“I was stunned,” said Benjamin. “As tribal leaders, much of our time is spent dispelling myths out there that constitutional protections and civil rights don’t apply in Indian country. And here was the lead attorney for the Band who is supposed to know something about the law telling me that I had no right to due process.” Benjamin has denied any wrong-doing.
Attorney Bill Gardner, who served as Counsel to the Chief Executive, was in the room with Benjamin. “What he said was so astonishing I couldn’t believe he was serious.” Gardner questioned Brunkow regarding procedural due process and protection of property interests, insisting Band laws required a minimum amount of fairness in any hearing. “He insisted that the Chief was not entitled to due process. He made clear that when the decision was made by her accusers, that was the end of the road for her.”
Gardner said when it became obvious Brunkow wouldn’t change his mind, they notified Brunkow they would proceed to court.
Court Order Ignored
The Band Assembly had circulated a petition calling for the removal of Benjamin citing several accusations. Benjamin has denied the accusations. A legislative hearing and vote of Band Assembly was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on October 8, 2008.
Prior to the hearing, Chief Justice Alvina Aubele of the Court of Central Jurisdiction issued a stay delaying the proceedings until constitutional protections could be assured. In a move that startled the Minnesota Indian legal community, the Band Assembly chose to ignore the court order, buoyed by Brunkow’s extraordinary assurance that Band Assembly was above the law and the court had no authority over them. Brunkow has attempted to defend his claim in a recent interview with the Mille Lacs Messenger (October 8, 2008, Mille Lacs Messenger).
Many experts are concerned about the legal implications of this move and the message being sent to tribal members and the outside public. “This is now a crisis of constitutional proportion. The legal process should be allowed to play out. We don’t just take the law into our own hands,” said Jay Kanassatega, of Leonard Street and Deinard, who helped write the Statutes in the 1980’s.
Benjamin is saddened to see decades of work positioning the Band as a progressive tribal government undone. “There are people, elders, who spent years working on the separation-of-power system of government we have in place at Mille Lacs and they’re in shock. If the Chief of the tribe has no due process, what about the average Band Member? How are Band Members to go into tribal court and show respect for our court’s decisions when they know the Band’s own lawyer and elected officials don’t show the same respect?”
The public hearing will take place at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, October 13, 2008, in tribal court chambers on the Mille Lacs Reservation.
* * * End of Press Release. * * *
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The law of the Rez - a new chief in town
“Laws control the lesser man... Right conduct controls the greater one.” - Mark
Twain
“Nobody has a more sacred obligation to obey the law than those who make the law.” -- Sophocles
Wow. What a day.
If you have read the Messenger website, then you already know. Mille Lacs Band Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin has been removed from office effective as of 11 a.m. this morning.
I wont go into details — you can get that from the news story. I hope you read it all and keep going back daily for updates as they happen.
I cannot say one way or another if I think Melanie Benjamin is innocent or guilty of the accusations of the petition. Because I don't know that. Nobody does, really. Except for her.
I will say that no formal criminal charges have been filed therefore no convictions have been made. All I can tell you is there is a federal investigation "ongoing" regarding some pretty big amounts of money (Millions) being miss-appropriated by at least one department of the Mille Lacs Band. Solicitor General Rjay Brunkow confirmed there is an investigation by the Federal government, but when I call the federal people I get the standard FBI statement, "I can neither confirm nor deny such an investigation exists."
Please.
Anyway, more on that later.
So Melanie presented a court order at the removal hearing in the Band Assembly chambers this morning, issued by the Band's Chief Justice. The court order basically said the hearing for the removal of Benjamin from office was canceled for the day and would proceed at another date.
The Band assembly said they didn't have to oblige the court order. They said that they have power over the court in this matter.
OK. That deserves a big "What the???"
Did the Band Assembly really say they are above the law?
Apparently they did.
They said that the Minnesota Chippewa Tribal Constitution gave them the power.
After conversations with several Indian legal law professors and a bunch of other people all day, I have a sore ear for one. But I learned a few things.
The MCT Constitution was written a long, long time ago for the six tribes of Chippewa residing in Minnesota. About 25 or 30 years ago, the Mille Lacs Band members voted to create there own Band statutes. The MCT said they could, so they did.
Mille Lacs Band was (and is) still a member of the MCT in good standing. While they were guided by the MCT, rather still under the umbrella of the MCT, they created their own government and they became a sovereign nation.
They are the only one of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribes who have a separation of powers government. They created three branches of government — judicial, legislative and executive and called it a separation of powers. Each branch was created to have co-equal power. If there were problems between any two branches, the third could step in.
The rules, or laws, of the MCT still govern the Mille Lacs Band but they created their own set of laws and statutes that are in addition to the MCT Constitution to govern the entire Mille Lacs Band. These statutes are the law.
Under the Band statutes it says under no uncertain terms, if the Mille Lacs Band Court issued an order, it was an order. "The rule of law is supreme in an orderly society," Jay Kanassatega said. He is the guy who wrote the Mille Lacs Band statues in 1983 and was the first Solicitor General for the Mille Lacs Band under the new separation of powers.
He told me today that any government body that acts against a court order is a very serious circumstance.
The Band Assembly publicly ignored a court order today. Kanassatega is concerned about what kind of a message that will send to the Band members? How can they banish some Band members under the Band statutes, but ignore the Band statues when it suits them? Can they pick and choose which laws to obey and which laws to ignore? Is the joint
session above the law?
"The legal process should be allowed to play out," Kanassatega continued. "We don't take the law into our own hands."
But Brunkow said that because of a case law Nixon v United States (Not Pres. Nixon) the MCT Constitution delegates authority to the RBC - Reservation Business Commission, or the 5 elected officials) and because of that the judicial branch has no authority when it is a non-jurisdictional political question. Which in his eyes this is.
So what happens now? What is in store for the Band members with the newly appointed interim chief executive Herb Weyaus?
Only time will tell. He has officially only 141 days in his newly "appointed" position. That is unless he chooses to run in the special election for the position of Chief Executive. He will have 81 days to file if that is his plan. We don't know yet.
Stay tuned.
Peace.
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.” -- Plato
Twain
“Nobody has a more sacred obligation to obey the law than those who make the law.” -- Sophocles
Wow. What a day.
If you have read the Messenger website, then you already know. Mille Lacs Band Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin has been removed from office effective as of 11 a.m. this morning.
I wont go into details — you can get that from the news story. I hope you read it all and keep going back daily for updates as they happen.
I cannot say one way or another if I think Melanie Benjamin is innocent or guilty of the accusations of the petition. Because I don't know that. Nobody does, really. Except for her.
I will say that no formal criminal charges have been filed therefore no convictions have been made. All I can tell you is there is a federal investigation "ongoing" regarding some pretty big amounts of money (Millions) being miss-appropriated by at least one department of the Mille Lacs Band. Solicitor General Rjay Brunkow confirmed there is an investigation by the Federal government, but when I call the federal people I get the standard FBI statement, "I can neither confirm nor deny such an investigation exists."
Please.
Anyway, more on that later.
So Melanie presented a court order at the removal hearing in the Band Assembly chambers this morning, issued by the Band's Chief Justice. The court order basically said the hearing for the removal of Benjamin from office was canceled for the day and would proceed at another date.
The Band assembly said they didn't have to oblige the court order. They said that they have power over the court in this matter.
OK. That deserves a big "What the???"
Did the Band Assembly really say they are above the law?
Apparently they did.
They said that the Minnesota Chippewa Tribal Constitution gave them the power.
After conversations with several Indian legal law professors and a bunch of other people all day, I have a sore ear for one. But I learned a few things.
The MCT Constitution was written a long, long time ago for the six tribes of Chippewa residing in Minnesota. About 25 or 30 years ago, the Mille Lacs Band members voted to create there own Band statutes. The MCT said they could, so they did.
Mille Lacs Band was (and is) still a member of the MCT in good standing. While they were guided by the MCT, rather still under the umbrella of the MCT, they created their own government and they became a sovereign nation.
They are the only one of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribes who have a separation of powers government. They created three branches of government — judicial, legislative and executive and called it a separation of powers. Each branch was created to have co-equal power. If there were problems between any two branches, the third could step in.
The rules, or laws, of the MCT still govern the Mille Lacs Band but they created their own set of laws and statutes that are in addition to the MCT Constitution to govern the entire Mille Lacs Band. These statutes are the law.
Under the Band statutes it says under no uncertain terms, if the Mille Lacs Band Court issued an order, it was an order. "The rule of law is supreme in an orderly society," Jay Kanassatega said. He is the guy who wrote the Mille Lacs Band statues in 1983 and was the first Solicitor General for the Mille Lacs Band under the new separation of powers.
He told me today that any government body that acts against a court order is a very serious circumstance.
The Band Assembly publicly ignored a court order today. Kanassatega is concerned about what kind of a message that will send to the Band members? How can they banish some Band members under the Band statutes, but ignore the Band statues when it suits them? Can they pick and choose which laws to obey and which laws to ignore? Is the joint
session above the law?
"The legal process should be allowed to play out," Kanassatega continued. "We don't take the law into our own hands."
But Brunkow said that because of a case law Nixon v United States (Not Pres. Nixon) the MCT Constitution delegates authority to the RBC - Reservation Business Commission, or the 5 elected officials) and because of that the judicial branch has no authority when it is a non-jurisdictional political question. Which in his eyes this is.
So what happens now? What is in store for the Band members with the newly appointed interim chief executive Herb Weyaus?
Only time will tell. He has officially only 141 days in his newly "appointed" position. That is unless he chooses to run in the special election for the position of Chief Executive. He will have 81 days to file if that is his plan. We don't know yet.
Stay tuned.
Peace.
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.” -- Plato
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