Judge promises ruling in Indian voting rights lawsuit in Wyoming
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Filed Under:
Law
|
Politics
A federal judge held another hearing in a voting rights lawsuit affecting members of the
Eastern Shoshone
Tribe and the
Northern
Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming.
Judge Alan B. Johnson already ruled that the voting system in
Fremont County dilutes the Indian vote.
He has yet to determine how to implement a remedy but he promised a decision before the terms of the current county commissioners expire in January 2011.
Tribal members want the entire county to go to a district system.
But the county wants to create a separate district for tribal members while keeping the rest of the county on an at-large system.
"The fundamental bottom line to me is that we still need to have the five districts with a representative in each one," plaintiff Gary Collins, a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, told the Associated Press.
The county is being represented by the
Mountain States Legal
Foundation, a group that has lost a number of Indian voting rights cases.
The group has fought protections for sacred sites, opposed subsistence rights
for Alaska Natives and has represented clients who opposed tribal sovereignty
Get the Story:
Judge pledges decision in voting rights case
(AP 7/28)
Lawsuit Documents:
Large
v. Fremont County (ACLU)
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Judge won't allow
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County delaying election after losing Indian voting
lawsuit (6/3)
Editorial: County should
follow Indian voting rights decision (6/1)
Plaintiffs in voting rights case seek district for
reservation (5/4)
Editorial: Wyoming
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